


the emøtiønal

by blurryjace



Category: 21p - Fandom, Bandom, Blurryface - Fandom, Twenty One Pilots, Tyler Joseph - Fandom, josh dun - Fandom
Genre: Bandom - Freeform, Demon AU, Fanfiction, M/M, joshler - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-27
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-05-09 17:02:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 30,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5548343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blurryjace/pseuds/blurryjace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Josh is just your typical college kid, except he sees ghosts, spirits, and demons.<br/>Tyler is just your typical college kid, except he is a demon.<br/>Tyler needs Josh's help, and even if Josh doesn't know it at first, he needs Tyler's help too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. my name is blurryface

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first 21p fic, and it's a really rad au where Tyler is part demon, and sometimes his demon (Blurry) comes out to play. Josh gets to meet both of them and its just really gay so have fun with this.

Josh wouldn't consider himself _"gifted"_ in the slightest, not by any definition of the word. He was just some college kid who could see spirits and entities. No big deal.Half the time it was old ghosts who didn't have a clue as to what was going on. Sometimes it was a younger ghost, younger as in died recently and younger as in actual age.

In the past, he had stayed up a few nights just talking to the ghosts of suicidal teens who had succeeded. He tried to help them as much as he could, seeing as they were already dead. The usual advice was for them to go see everyone's reactions, to see how much they had been missed. That usually worked out. Sometimes he'd get a more evil, demonic being. Usually it would throw stuff and wreck his apartment, but that was about it. Originally, it'd scared Josh shitless, but as time went on, it just started to piss him off.   

When he wasn't being The Ghost Whisperer, he was busy with typical things. Studying for college exams, drowning in debt, and working at some pretentious hipster cafe that would swear it was different from Starbucks but honestly wasn't. He had friends, but as of late he'd just been too busy to hang out with any of them. When he wasn't studying, he was working. When he wasn't working,  he was dealing with ghosts. There was never a dull moment. 

Luckily, his schedule only consisted of work today. It was a typical night there, nothing new happened. He was ready to close up & go home, until one prick decided to come in 5 minutes before closing time and order a 'venti salted caramel frappe, extra caramel, no whip cream.' Josh groaned inwardly as he took the equipment he had just cleaned and used it to make this guy's drink. Josh silently wondered how pretentious of a person someone would have to be to do this. The man had to know that this was extremely dickish to do, especially to some college kid who just wanted to go home already. Who gets coffee this late at night anyway? Regardless, whether Josh liked it or not, it was the job he chose. Chose is a term used loosely however. Truthfully he had no other choice. College is expensive, and student loans don't help a whole lot - arguably, they make things worse.

Josh forced a large smile and gave the man his drink before turning to the pile of dirty dishes he had to clean again. He would have complained more but the stranger left a pretty generous tip. Whether he meant to leave that much or not, Josh was keeping it. He deserved it for having even served someone a drink that close to closing time.

The drive home was quiet, only the stereo's soft hum filled Josh's car. A few times, he felt himself drifting off to sleep while driving, and regretted taking naps the past few days as opposed to sleeping through the night like a normal person. Apparently he just liked feeling exhausted all the time. Nevertheless, he got home safely at around one in the morning. He unlocked the door to his apartment, barely managing to stay awake at this point. It was nice to actually feel tired for once, it meant he'd finally get some actual sleep. He started envisioning his pillows, his bed, his warm blankets. The euphoric feeling of finally taking a moment to stop and breathe after a busy day, a weight lifting off of his shoulders. He could feel it beginning already just from the thought of it!

That was until a loud crash caused adrenaline to spike through his veins, shocking his eyes wide open.

Having his peaceful vision taken away from him, he looked down at the hallway's floor, to see the remains of what used to be a flower vase. Pastel carnations lay on the ground, amongst a puddle of water and glass chunks. Josh sighed as he realized what was happening. He hadn't had a violent demonic being in a while, but it seemed his luck had run out. Foolish of him to think he'd have a moment of calm at all in the first place. 

He placed his stuff down on his kitchen table and switched the light on to see the entity standing there, their back to Josh, breathing heavily in frustration. Knowing this was going to take a while, Josh sighed as he closed his eyes and dropped down into the chair. He massaged his left temple, feeling the headache was going to be the strongest there. With his eyes still closed, he addressed the other being in the room. 

"Quick question; Why did you have to break the vase? I get that you're angry and all, but you couldn't have broken a plate or some cups? Just had to break my last flower vase, huh? Not cool, man."

He groaned to himself as he felt the headache growing ever stronger, still not bothering to look at whomever the culprit was. His head ache throbbed  as three loud crashes broke the momentary silence, followed by this first response from the other being in the room,  
"There. Broke two cups and a plate. Happy?"

Josh stifled a chuckle as he rolled his shoulders back, each section of his spine releasing a satisfying popping noise. That wasn't the voice he was expecting the entity to have. It was a lot smaller and less intimidating than he expected, although the pitch of it was off putting. Josh finally opened his eyes to see what face matched the voice, cringing a bit at how bright his lights suddenly seemed.  
  
What he saw in front of him definitely wasn't what he was expecting. What he was expecting was a pissed off spirit, that much was clear. He didn't expect to see it was bleeding....something spirits normally don't do. He was even more taken back when he looked at his face, and saw that not only was he good looking but oddly familiar.  
  
Although struggling to hide his nervous stutter, he found his voice,

"H-How did you get into my apartment exactly? Who even are you?"  
  
The spirit - or whatever it was - stared at him as if he was expecting Josh to say he was joking. Upon realizing Josh was completely serious, he lifted his arm and pointed a finger in the direction of the door.

"You left it unlocked. Not very safe, Joshua. Especially in this neighborhood."

He flexed his fingers, the blood pooled into the center of his palm before steadily dripping onto the floor, yet Blurry's face remained as blank and unresponsive as ever. His neck and arms seemed to be cover in something black; paint, ash? Whatever it was, it faded out around his elbows and stopped at his jawline. Josh stared at Blurry's hand, studying how the black and the blood subtly mixed together subtly.

"And before you ask how I know your name,  your mom left you a voicemail reminding you that you promised you'd visit soon. You should call her back sometime, she seemed a bit irritated. But it seems unfair that I know your name and you don't know mine so my name is Blurryface or Tyler. And before you ask how I know your name,  your mum left you a voicemail reminding you that you promised you'd viAlso," He paused as he situated himself to sit on Josh's counter, leaving a bloody hand print on the edge of the garnite counter-top, "I drank the last of your alcohol. Sorry bout that. In all fairness, it tasted like cat piss so I did you a favor."

Though Josh was listening, his eyes were  focused on the ever-growing mess on his kitchen floor.  
   
"Um that's fine, but can you at least- .... just- ....hold on-"

Josh forced himself up and out of his chair to rummage through the cabinets in the hallway, letting out a small sigh as he found the first aid kit. He returned to the kitchen to see that Blurry was still there, still very tangible, and still making a fucking mess on his floor. He placed the kit on the counter next to Blurry, and stood in front of him. Holding his hand out, he waited but Blurry just lifted his hand far above Josh's and let the blood fall onto his palm. Josh let out a noise of slight disgust and severe annoyance as he rinsed his hand quickly in the sink next to them, before forcefully grabbing Blurry's hand and looking at the wound itself. A small, but deep cut still bled as Blurry flexed his hand a bit, making Josh glare up at him.   
  
"Hold still." Josh growled.  
  
Upon looking up at him, Josh saw his eyes were a bright red. He was surprised he hadn't noticed it sooner but decided it wasn't the most important thing going on.  
  
He turned the sink back on again, waiting for the cold water to return and letting it wash the blood off of Blurry's hand. He stared at the pink flesh that was now visible, and realized just how deep the cut had been. He let go of Blurry's hand, subconsciously noting that there was some black left behind on his own hand so it had to be something he did intentionally. Not just something that happened for demon reasons.    
  
"You might need stitches, yknow? I don't think I can do that myself though."  
  
Josh turned around to grab a towel out of one of the drawers. He rummaged around, looking for one he didn't care about and wouldn't mind getting blood on, and his search was only cut short when Blurry cleared his throat to get Josh's attention. Josh turned his head to see Blurry waving at him in his peripheral vision, groaning as he thought Blurry was just wasting his time.  
  
"Joshua, you might wanna pay better attention to your guests."  
  
Sighing as he picked out a black towel, he turned back around, "Blurryface, or Blurry, or whoever you are, I don't even need to be helping y-"

His rant was abruptly stopped as he stared at Blurry's now perfectly fine hand. Just a few seconds ago it was bleeding like all hell and gaping as if it were the mouth of hell itself, but suddenly it was gone. Not a scratch, a mark, or a scar was left behind. Josh stared in awe, or maybe in fear. Blurry smirked a little bit before reaching over the the knife rack next to him, "Wanna see a trick?"  
  
Before Josh could answer, Blurry drove the knife right through his hand. Josh just stood there, almost on the verge of a panic attack as Blurry slid the knife out. With a grimace, he gently took the knife all the way out, and placed it in the sink before he looked back up at Josh, holding his palm towards him. He made a show of it, to make sure Josh saw that there was indeed a large flesh wound all the way through. Sighing as if he was bored, he tapped his foot as the wound began to heal right before Josh's eyes.  
  
Josh let out a genuine groan of despair, as he backed up, jumping a bit when he felt the cold metal of his fridge against his back. He let himself slide down until he sat on the floor, disgustingly close to Blurry's blood puddle. He looked at the blood on the floor just to make sure he hadn't just imagined the wounds earlier. Upon realizing the blood was indeed real, and he had just witnessed the grossest display of demonic witchcraft, he was almost crying at this point.   
  
"What drugs did I get a hold of? What demonic force did I piss off? Who are you? Why me though? Is it because I kept that guy's money? He was being a prick, I swear to god. Why does Jesus hate me? And you dirtied my knife. I can't use that. That's so gross. Oh my gosh, what the hheeeelllllllllll?"  
  
Blurry jumped down from the counter, smirking a little at Josh before kneeling down to him, "The perks of being a demon."  
  
Upon seeing just how truly deep in shock Josh seemed, Blurry stood up and looked around, "Wheres....where's your cleaning stick? Not a broom, but the wet cleaning stick? Fuck, what is it even called?"  
  
Josh's small voice offered god given insight, "The mop?"  
  
He pointed to the corner of the room, his hand shaking. Blurry let out a small thank you as he grabbed it and started cleaning the floor, continuing in what he was saying, "You're the guy who can see demons, spirits, entities and all that. All those fancy names for ghosts. That's you, right?"  
  
Josh stayed silent, running his thumb over the sleeve of his sweater in an attempt to calm himself down. He dealt with demons all the time, this was nothing incredibly new. Except it was. No matter how many times he tried to lie to himself, he knew this was beyond weird. Blurry sighed as he finished, staring down at the blood stained mop before putting it back in the corner.  
  
"Anxiety?"  
  
Blurry knew it was, but felt it necessary to ask. He didn't have it, but Tyler did, so he knew the signs of it and usually how to help. In this case, he didn't know what to do seeing as he was the reason Josh was freaking out. He took it upon himself to at least clean up the mess he made in Josh's apartment. Taking a wash cloth to the counter and scrubbing the bloody hand print from it, & throwing the cloth in the sink. He turned on the facet, and grabbed the sponge from the dish rack. He scrubbed the knife as he spoke again, "Obviously, I'm not a ghost. I'm a demon, but I share this body with a person. Tyler, I mentioned him before. I don't know the technicalities of it, but I just know he's half demon, and I'm half human I guess. I was wondering if you could help me- well, help us."  
  
Blurry washed the knife a total of four times, with hot water and an abundance of soap. He also rinsed out the black wash cloth the best he could, hoping all the blood came out. He dried his hands, and turned back to face Josh, who seemed calmer now. His voice still shook when he spoke,  
"I think I get it, but what was the point of breaking my vase? And my plates, and cups?"

"Well the cups and singular plate you technically asked for, but the vase was more so in the midst of a fit of rage. Which wasn't your fault. I'll buy you a new one, well Tyler will. Tell him I told you he would later. Someone told me you lived here, because they knew I was looking for help. I got here, the place was empty and it looked normal so I assumed I was lied to. Sorry about that. I can buy new flowers too, if you want." When he finished, he took a seat on the floor, directly across from Josh, who nodded as he took  in all of this information. He took another deep breath, finally feeling himself calm down a little.  
  
"Well you weren't lied to. I'm 'the guy.' I don't know if I can help you though. I've never dealt with someone who was half. Are you sure you don't just have a split personality?"  
  
"Do you think if I just had a split personality, I could heal a wound like that twice?"  
  
Josh shrugged, but ultimately knew it was a good point.   
  
"All I'm saying is I've never dealt with this before. I've only dealt with full ghosts, the spooky kind that can go through walls and all of that." He stood up slowly, feeling his head spin for a few seconds. He squeezed his eyes shut, suppressing a groan, "Listen, even if I can help you, which I'm not making any promises, I really need some sleep. Especially after whatever the hell just happened. Thanks for cleaning up your mess and all, but I'm exhausted. So, if you'd kindly-"  
  
Blurry stood up, nodding in understanding, "Right right, I get it. One issue, um I can't leave."  
Josh simply stared at the other boy, waiting for him to say he was kidding or for him to just leave. When neither of these things happened and Josh stayed silent, he took it as a signal to keep explaining,  
"I have no where to go. I don't have a house, or an apartment. But I do see you have a couch, and a floor. Both of which are empty."  
  
Knowing he owed this complete stranger nothing, he contemplated telling him to get the hell out of his apartment, but Josh wasn't that kind of guy. Josh was the ultimate sweet heart. Being the person he was, he sighed, shrugged his shoulders, and let out a small weak, "Sure. The couch is all yours."  
  
Blurry smiled, "Really? Thanks, dog. I might need your shower too."  
With another meager shrug, Josh nodded and Blurry smiled even wider. He asked where the towels were, and smiled at Josh once more after he was shown where he could find everything - shower supplies, extra blankets, pillows, extra tooth brushes,etc. Josh walked off, in the direction of his own room.  
  
Blurry called after him, "Josh."  
  
He turned around, practically a zombie due to exhaustion, but forced a smile as he asked, "Yeah?"  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Blurry rushed off to the bathroom, and Josh was left alone in his bedroom doorway. He found himself genuinely smiling, before shaking his head and forcing his smile to go away. Before he made his way to bed, he went out to the hallway and grabbed a blanket and a couple of pillows for Blurry when he got out of the shower, and left them on the couch. He then went to his room, locked his door (Blurry was still a stranger after all), and stripped down to just his boxers. He fell onto his bed with a sigh, and fell asleep almost immediately.

* * *

  
Blurry was showering, the black paint coming off of his arms and neck but the black colour never truly leaving.   
He thought of how odd but kind it was that Josh was actually letting him stay here for now, and how extra kind it was that he was willing to help him even after all of bullshit he had caused. He also considered that Josh may have been dumb, because if Tyler or Blurry were bad people, they could easily abuse his trust, his kindness. Blurry figured he was the demon, and even he didn't want to hurt Josh after seeing how much of a good guy he was already being. Seeing as Tyler wasn't a demon or a jerk, Blurry assumed he'd feel the same.   
  
After the shower, Blurry dried himself off with the towel and brushed his teeth. He looked around, realizing he only had his old dirty clothes to wear. He decided against bothering Josh, knowing he was dead tired and just resorted to putting on his boxers and his shirt. He folded up his pants, and left them in the corner of the bathroom, before he headed out to the main room. He stared at the couch, where a blanket and a few pillows already awaited for him. He lay down on the couch, wrapped himself up in blankets, and stared up at the ceiling.   
  
It was almost hard to believe that this could be their chance at finally getting help. If Josh could help them, Tyler could live a normal live without being inhabited by some asshole of a demon. As Blurry was thinking, he found Tyler's body drifting off to sleep. He decided they had a lot ahead of them and Tyler would need his rest, so he let his body relax, and his eyes close. Only the smell of Josh's blankets, and the white noise of the early morning were the last things within their mind.


	2. i've gøt twø faces; blurry's the øne i'm nøt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tyler's found his help, they both need to find their game plan now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh here's chapter 2!! I'm very surprised I wrote this and actually got it, published this soon. I cannot promise the same for chapter 3, because I was on winter break but will be going back to school soon. So as if my procrastination wasn't already bad enough, I'll have school work to attend to first. My apologies in advance, I will still be writing another chapter however. Just give it some time.

 The morning sun shone through the glass doors of Josh's balcony, lighting up the main room. Unfortunately for Tyler, he was in the main room sleeping on the couch, and was being blinded by the unfiltered rays of light. Letting out an exasperated groan, he turned over, allowing the sun to hit his back instead. He promised himself he'd be up in a few minutes. Or maybe a few intervals of 10 minutes. From inside of his room, Josh groaned as well. Sunlight remained sheltered outside, due to specific curtains he got in order to do so. His groan was fueled by exhausted frustration. It was the first night in a long while he got actual sleep, but his nightmares prevented it from being blissful. He had slept, but he didn't feel rested at all.

Mustering up the very little energy he had, he practically dragged himself out of bed. He spent a solid few seconds getting angry with his doorknob before realizing he had locked it - the reason for which was a mystery to him. After escaping from his room, he sleepily made his way to his bathroom. He always wondered who the hell designed this apartment and why they put the bathroom so far, but he remembered he could barely afford this place (only doing so with his parents help) and should be grateful for having somewhere to live at all. He followed his regular routine; Use the toilet, wash his hands, brush his teeth, wash his face, spend a solid 5 minutes wondering what he was doing with his life, attempt to fix his hair, give up, done. Even after all of this, he was still as grumpy and groggy as ever. What really woke him up was the wave of chills that ran through his body as he exited the bathroom, the cold air hitting all of his exposed skin. Sleeping practically naked had its perks, the morning coldness not being one of them. He set out to go back to his room, and was almost to his door when he heard some fabric rustling and someone clear their throat. Josh immediately turned to see the man who he knew as Blurry on his couch, sleeping but seemingly stirring awake. Josh booked it to his room, hurriedly pulling some sweat pants on and rushing to the kitchen. His mother raised him well, hospitality always came first. Even if your guest was half demon, he still deserved some breakfast.

Keeping this in mind, he rummaged through his almost completely empty fridge. He still was a struggling college kid after all. As mentioned before, he could only afford to stay in this apartment thanks to his parents help. He already felt bad enough for that, he wouldn't dare ask them for more money for groceries. He made due with what he could; That meaning he mostly lived off of Taco Bell. Now that he had to actually make his food, he was worried. His worry only grew when the thought occurred to him;   
_What if Blurry had allergies, or food preferences he wasn't aware of? Are demons vegans? Do they like egg whites or just regular eggs?_

Hell if Josh knew. He wasn't about to wake up Blurry just to find out. Josh settled on the most basic thing he could think of. Bacon and eggs. Hopefully Blurry liked bacon, or he didn't mind eating eggs alone. It was still an attempt at feeding him. That much had to be appreciated, right?  
  
\----

Tyler finally woke when the aroma of bacon greeted him. He opened his eyes slowly, attempting to get used to the harsh sunlight. He looked around, taking a second to realize his surroundings weren't familiar in the slightest. This couch, this unnecessary amount of sunlight, the smell of actual home cooked meals? Nowhere he's been recently was this warm and welcoming. It was nice, but slightly off putting.   
  
Upon pulling the blankets away from him, the scent of Josh's lavender laundry detergent hit Tyler's nose, and he vaguely remembered it from the night before. He couldn't quite remember what happened, but he knew he couldn't be in any danger here. Waking up with soft pillows, and clean blankets aren't the signs of danger. He pushed the blankets off of him fully, shivering at the cold air suddenly hitting his legs. Within the warmth of the thick blankets, Tyler had forgotten he went to sleep with out pants, and somehow within his barely functioning morning mind, it didn't occur to him that those were the solution to the cold he was plagued with. And since he already had the scent of bacon in his mind, he set that as his main concern.

With his priorities in order, he headed towards the smell, towards the kitchen. A tired Tyler waddled slowly into the kitchen, still baring his legs and messy hair. The man cooking food was wearing only pants, the exact opposite of Tyler. The man's back was towards Tyler, and he didn't want to be rude or startle him. Clearing his throat caught their attention well enough, only scaring the other slightly. Josh sighed, laughing at himself a bit,   
"Jeez, Blurry. You scared me. Breakfast is almost ready, hope you like eggs and bacon. or at least eggs."   
  
Josh smiled before returning his attention to cooking. Only cooking. Not how this admittedly attractive stranger was half naked, and adorably groggy. _Strictly. Cooking._  
Tyler really did like bacon and eggs, specifically the bacon part. This was way better than fast food. This was actual bacon. He had to tear his attention away from the sizzling beauty that was the bacon cooking to correct Josh,   
"I'm Tyler, not Blurry. Well I am Blurry but not right now. Right now I'm Tyler Joseph. I'm sure Blurry met you, but I didn't. You are....?"  
  
Josh, upon realizing Tyler didn't recall any of their interactions from last night, hurriedly cleaned his hands before offering a handshake to Tyler and smiling,  
"Joshua Dun. Just Josh works though."  
  
"Nice to meet you, Just Josh."  
  
Tyler shook his hand, the both of them laughing at the awful dad joke before another shiver coursed through Tyler's body. Josh attempt to hide his amusement,  
"Bit cold in here for you? If you want, you can borrow some clothes, We've got a lot to talk about & I don't know if I'd understand anyone too well through chattering teeth."

Josh secretly hoped his jokes were funny enough, maybe Tyler was laughing, maybe he wasn't. Josh didn't take a moment to study Tyler's facial expressions, and reactions to his jokes. He simply turned on his heel and beckoned Tyler to follow him. He led Tyler to his closet, a smaller walk in closet full of Josh's clothes, from fancier button ups to shirts with the sleeves cut off, even including weirdly pattern high socks and snap-backs.  
  
"You can pick anything. Just a t shirt and sweats will be fine so I'll leave you to it. Breakfast should be ready when you come out," and with that, Josh left the room.  

Tyler had many questions for Josh, mostly regarding how he ended up in his apartment, and why Josh even let him, a stranger, stay in his home? Especially since his lack of memory was due to Blurry meeting Josh, not him and no one ever had nice stories about Blurry. Regardless, Tyler could not deny it. Something about Josh was just oddly welcoming. Waking up in a stranger's home should be startling, and he should have assumed the worst about Josh, but somehow it just didn't work like that now. If anything bad had happened, (if he was kidnapped per se) Tyler seriously doubted the 'bad guy' would be making him breakfast and giving him clothes. With these thoughts floating around in his mind, he surveyed Josh's closet. He finally settled on a faded t shirt that had a collage of cats all over it, with some dark sweatpants. He had taken off his shirt, setting it down somewhere in the closet next to the snap-backs and forgetting about it when he pulled Josh's shirt on. The same lavender laundry detergent smell filled the air around him, a smell he'd realized was quite common here.   
  
He was a tad relieved he fit into Josh's clothes, saving himself the embarrassment of having to tell Josh that his clothes were too small, too big, too long, too short, etc.

He returned to the kitchen, Josh almost immediately handing him a plate and pointing to the empty table, smiling politely. Tyler obeyed, taking a seat and waiting for Josh to join him. Even if Blurry still struggled with it, Tyler knew his manners fairly well. Being half demon doesn't change a person completely. He wasn't going to disrespect someone who had been so kind to him. Josh's voice broke Tyler's train of thought,

"I have milk, coffee, tea, orange juice, and a bunch of Redbull. Which would you like?"

  
Tyler shrugged, despite desperately wanting a Redbull, he said "Whichever you're drinking is fine."  

A silence fell between them, not exactly painfully awkward but definitely not comfortable. In attempts to avoid making himself freak out, he turned his attention back to the bacon that sat on his plate, and he swore he had felt his heart rate increase when he looked at it.  Josh interrupted the special moment as he sat down across from Tyler, setting down a can of Redbull for each of them. He sighed, taking in bites of egg.

Tyler wouldn't vocally admit it, but the small smile forming on his face was proof enough; He was oddly pleased with how coincidentally Josh preferred Redbull as well. Josh glanced up at Tyler, seeing him smiling at the Redbull in his hand. He smiled a bit to himself, wondering if something he'd done was making Tyler so happy. In turn, he wondered what was making him so happy about Tyler being so happy. Irritated at his own irrational thoughts, he mentally told himself that he was probably just subconsciously proud of himself for making an edible meal. He didn't think he could make his own food after so many months of buying takeout. Josh hoped Tyler was pleased with the meal and judging by the smile on his face, he truly seemed to be.  
  
When Tyler finally dug into his bacon, he was sure he could hear a chorus of angels singing in the distance somewhere. The abundance of sunlight was probably focused on him like a spotlight as he savored the taste of _real_ home cooked bacon. He loved Taco Bell, and their food; Really he did but home cooked bacon was a delight he rarely got to partake in. If he wasn't emotionally unstable and dealing with being part demon, he would settle down and marry that bacon. He was sure this was exactly what love felt like. The two of them continued to eat in silence. Neither of them knowing each other well created a small but noticeable amount of tension between them.

Sometimes Josh would look at Tyler, and look back down. Tyler would do the same. Neither of them ever caught the other. Tyler felt the tension as if it was 3,000 pounds of pressure on his shoulders while Josh barely noticed, he was focused on how loud of an eater Tyler was. He laughed a little to himself, earning him a look from Tyler, who just brushed it off outwardly. Inwardly, he was worried he did something that Josh was judging him for. As Tyler continued to overthink, Josh wondered to himself; Maybe it tasted better if you ate it louder. That was something his younger cousin had told him once, when he complained about how loudly she chewed too. It was charming in it's own way, maybe due to the familiarity Josh had with it. Regardless, gross is still gross. If gross charming wasn't a thing before, it was now. And Tyler's loud chewing was the defintion of 'gross charming'.

When they both finished their plates, Josh immediately got up to put the dishes in the sink. Tyler murmured a soft thank you, and downed the rest of his Redbull. Josh returned to the fridge then to the table with a new can of Redbull in hand. He figured from his reaction earlier, he was quite fond of Redbull and would want more. He was correct.   
  
Josh beckoned Tyler to follow him to the living room instead where the two sat on the couch. Josh sat with his feet up on the couch facing Tyler as the other had his legs crossed and was facing the wall in front of them -new Redbull can still in hand. Tyler wasted no time in asking,

"So how exactly did I end up staying here last night?"  

Josh ran his tongue over his lips as he frowned, attempting to recall last night as best as he could.  
  
"Well brief run down: I came home, you broke a flower vase, then broke some cups and a plate. I was irritated, asked what your problem was. You were bleeding, I was trying to help you. You magically healed your hand, stabbed your hand, healed it again to prove a point. I freaked out. You were nice and un-freaked me out. Explained Blurryface a bit, although vaguely. Asked if I could help you with your demon issue. I was still irritated, said I couldn't promise anything but I'd try, and asked you to leave. You, or Blurry, said you had nowhere to go. I felt bad, let you use my shower and stay here with the exception you tell me everything this morning. It's now morning. I'm explaining things to you now. "

Tyler looked over at Josh, blinking slowly. Josh silently (and awkwardly) stared back, pressing his lips together in a firm line. Tyler's gaze lowered to his hands on his lap,

"Oh geez, You met Blurry first? That explains a lot. I'm sorry. He's just ....intense. It takes getting used to, but if you don't want to get used to him that's cool too. I just-"

"Well if I'm going to be helping you, I should get used to him, right?"

 

Tyler shrugged, knowing Josh had a point. He continued, "What did he ask of you exactly?"  

"He didn't ask much of me. Explained he's a demon, proved it, then asked if I could help you guys. Specifically you."

Tyler frowned, this didn't sound like Blurry's usual antics. He was usually aggressive and confrontational, he cared about himself. Although from time to time, Blurry did resemble Tyler in some ways, maybe he was actually trying to help for once.   
"He.... Asked for help? Help for _me_? Are you sure?" 

  
  
Josh shrugged, "Pretty sure. After he traumatized me, he asked if I could deal with demon stuff and help you two."

"Oh no. Oh no no no no. Did he offer you an insane amount of money or like something sexual?"

"Whoa, what? I don't-"

"I'm broke, I can't pay you anything. I'm also not really down to do anything sexual. Not that you aren't cute. You are. That's weird to say. I'm sorry. You're cute for a stranger. Wait that's still- I just don't know you. It'd be weird. Blurry won't do it either. Cause it's still my body. So whatever he promised I cant-"  
  
Josh stared wide-eyed before stopping Tyler,   
"Tyler, relax. He didn't promise anything like that. The most he offered was buying me a new flower vase since he broke my last one in a fit of rage. He also offered new flowers, but that's okay. I can get those. Don't worry about it."

Tyler chugged more of his Redbull in attempts to keep his mouth shut. He was sure he was making this situation way worse than even Blurry could have made it. Josh could practically feel Tyler's nervousness, taking it upon himself to attempt to ease it. He rolled his shoulders attempting to relax himself as well,

"Well you stayed here overnight, so he obviously asked for help. Even if it was more so of the demon variety, seems you need some help financially too. He mentioned you guys had nowhere to go. Can I- Or well, may I ask how that happened?"  
  
After asking, Josh was worried that he asked something too personal. Although he figured he held some right to know, after he let Tyler stay. Tyler finished off his second Redbull, Josh once again immediately got up to rinse the can and put it into his recycle bin in the kitchen. He asked Tyler if he wanted another can, to which he shook his head. He cleared his throat as Josh sat back down again.  
  
"I used to live with my girlfriend in her apartment, but we broke up. The details aren't important, I'd rather not talk about it right now."

Tyler stared at the couch blankly, in attempts to avoid making eye contact with Josh. His hands remained idle over each other, his fingers tapped a nervous beat against his knee. Josh opted to remain silent, what more could he really do? He wanted to know what happened, why the break up left him like this, where was the rest of his stuff, why did they break up? Despite wanting to know so much, Josh understood that him & Tyler were still strangers. Information that close to the heart isn't information you just share willingly. He put aside his curiosity for Tyler's sake, invading his personal privacy wasn't a good way to make friends; And if he was going to help Tyler with his literal and metaphorical demons, they'd have to at least be acquaintances.  
  
Josh ran his hand through his colourful hair, sighing outwards. He looked down at his hand, seeing strands of red laying in his palm. He tried to hide some of the shock it gave him, but truly he couldn't say he was completely surprised. He was stressed lately. Even if he did care about this stranger's well being, it wasn't doing anything to help his stress and that was for sure. He could never voice this of course, and knowing this he brushed the strands out of his hand, and cautiously placed a hand on Tyler's shoulder. Tyler flinched back from it slightly, his hands held tightly against his chest. Josh ceased any further movement for a moment before he placed his hand on Tyler's knee instead. He let it rest there for a mere second before pulling his hand back and offering Tyler a polite smile once more,  
  
"Seems like you need a place to stay then, right? If you don't mind the couch, then it's open for you to use, bud. You can ....You can stay here."

 

Tyler's face practically lit up for a moment, relief flowing through his entire being. But he quickly tried to hide it as he considered the possibility of Josh was just doing this out of pity and didn't actually want him to stay. He wanted to accept the offer immediately, but instead he insisted otherwise,

"Josh, you don't have to. I don't want to just barge into your house and stay here because you feel bad for me. Besides we barely know each other, this isn't very safe."

Josh recalled Blurry saying something similar last night, when Josh asked him how he got into his apartment, Blurry said his door was unlocked and he made the same comment about Josh's lack of safety precautions. Josh supposed he just wasn't one for caring about his own well being apparently. Although Tyler was flattered by the offer, he couldn't expect a total stranger to care about him this much. Or at least, he didn't want him to. Josh insisted though; And when Josh insists, it's hard to argue.

 

"You can just stay on the couch, it's fine. It's not like I'm asking you to move in with me and marry me, man. And I understand we're strangers, but that's why I locked my door last night. Out of fear of the possibility of you being a knife wielding murder. But here I am. Alive. Not stabbed. So, I think I take enough precautions for you to stay here for a while. Where else are you going to go if not here? Back to your girlfriend?"

Josh regretted saying this, seeing Tyler cringe a bit upon hearing it. He began to apologize but Tyler cut him off,

"You make a fair point. A brutal but very valid point. I guess, if it's okay with you. I can stay. But I promise I'll be out of here and out of your hair as soon as I can be."  
  
Josh simply nodded, before adding, "I can try and get you a job at the cafe I work at. They're always hiring. But that depends on how much control you have on Blurry, who we still need to talk about."

Josh went on to ask exactly what Tyler needed from him. Tyler explained to the best of his ability, and after almost an hour of rambling in attempts to do so, he finally summarized it with,

"We share one body, him & I. I kind of have two faces in a way. I'm Tyler, He's Blurry. He's the one I'm not, and it's my body we are sharing. Regarding the help we need, we basically have two options. Either _help me get control over him_ , or _get him away from me all together_. I don't know which is more likely. I've tried doing this on my own, I've tried with other people and you are honestly the last resource I have. I just need someone's help. I need someone. Sometimes that's hard for me to say but I'm stating it as a fact. I need someone who can help. You seem to be capable of doing so."  
  
While it was never spoken out loud, they both knew what Tyler meant.  
 **He needed Josh.**  
  
He looked up at Josh in attempts to get a read on what he was thinking. Josh was surprised by the weight of Tyler's words, this was obviously something that could alter Tyler's life completely depending on the outcome. He looked right into Tyler's eyes as he spoke,

"Tyler, look, I explained to Blurry I've never dealt with someone like you before. I've only dealt with 100% spirits and demons, or %100  humans. The concept of a sort of hybrid between the two is very new to me. There's no way around it. You are different from anything- well, anyone I've seen before. But I promise I'm going to help you as best as I can. You're in good hands here. Don't worry."  

 Tyler couldn't help but smile Josh finished, murmuring a small thank you in response. He wondered how a person could be so kind to him even after their rough introduction. How he got past what Blurry did and still cared for Tyler was beyond him, but he had never felt so thankful in his life.

Josh was happy to help,but he knew what was coming. There was this anxiety, gripping at the bottom of his ribs, wrapping tightly around his lungs making it hard to breathe. Something about this felt wrong. Maybe it was the fact that he shouldn't be meddling in things like this. He should focus on getting a stable job and finishing college. He should be doing what everyone else is doing. Sticking to routine. Maybe he knew himself and knew he'd get attached to Tyler, if he wasn't already in the process of doing so. Josh mentally shook away all those thoughts before Tyler cleared his throat,  
  
"I hate to ask you for another favor but, would you mind giving me a ride to my old apartment? I need to get my stuff out of there before _she_ torches it, or sells it online, or something."

  
   
Josh wasn't really feeling up to leaving the house today and since he didn't have work he was assuming that would be possibly. Unfortunately, Tyler needed his clothes and belongings, so Josh agreed with hidden reluctance. He changed into shorts and put on a shirt, grabbed his keys, and headed to his truck. Tyler followed close behind, and sat in the passenger seat as the radio played barely audible pop music.

Josh's truck was old, and therefore overly loud half the time. Regardless, Tyler hummed along quietly until Drake came on. He groaned a little, causing Josh to laugh. Even if he wasn't a big fan of Drake himself, he turned up the radio louder, just to spite Tyler. But within a few seconds, they were both rapping along to Hotline Bling and giggling like idiots. As the song ended, they pulled up to the apartment complex, all positive emotions leaving the air around them. As Josh lowered the radio, Tyler unbuckled and stepped out, walking around the car and looking at complex, feeling his anxiety rising with each second that passed. Taking deep breaths in order to calm himself down, he was about to start walking when Josh called after him,

"Do you want me to come up with you? In case you have a lot of stuff or heavy bags?"  
  
Tyler shook his head, he had a lot of clothes mostly but he could carry those. He also didn't want a stranger witnessing anything that might happen.  
  
"No thanks, I shouldn't have that much. Just give me a few minutes."

  
He turned back around before Josh could respond, quickly heading for his old apartment. He realized he looked like a bum, dressed in pajamas running around this complex like a madman, but he was hoping he could get his stuff and get out in under 10 minutes. He was aware she'd be home and he was almost certain she'd give him a hard time, but regardless, the goal was still 10 minutes or less. All the while, Josh stayed in the car, trying to focus on the radio but ended up staring at the complex entrance. With every minute that passed, he grew increasingly more worried. He wasn't sure exactly what he was worried about, but something just made the air around the complex tense. He chalked it up to him being paranoid and _tried to_ assure himself this would be quick and painless. _Tried_ being the key word.  

While Josh waited, he asked himself if he normally worried about strangers this much or if he felt oddly protective specifically over Tyler. The second possibility scared him. Feeling protective over someone meant getting attached to them, and that meant losing them would hurt like all hell. Josh had been through it twice before. Once with Mary Kate, & Ashley (his first celebrity crushes), and another time with his now ex girlfriend. But he had barely met Tyler. At least the first 2 experiences made sense, but why would he care so much about Tyler? Why did he care whether this random guy lived a happy life, or if he withered away in depression? It's natural to care about someone generally, most goodhearted people want the best for others. But Josh knew this wasn't just a general kindness, generally kind people don't let straight up strangers stay in their house. Why was he doing this?   
  
Asking that question was pointless. He knew exactly why; Tyler reminded him a bit of himself. He wanted to prevent him from feeling as terrible as Josh did most of the time. Josh didn't like to cuss, but sometimes he couldn't describe things accurately with a normal word. Plain and simple; He didn't want to let Tyler feel shitty, as if his existence wouldn't matter or that his death would be nothing, maybe even celebrated. He wanted to make sure no one else felt that. Even if he was a cynical jerk sometimes, and had some trust issues, he had this overwhelming urge to help people. Tyler just happened to walk into Josh's life (and break into his apartment), and now was the target of Josh's kindness. One question still remained in Josh's mind; Why Tyler specifically? Most people would kick out the demon who broke into their apartment, but here he was helping him.  
  
Josh groaned loudly, covering his face with his hands as he cursed himself for caring about anyone this much, especially within the time span of 2 days. As he was feeling regret consume his entire being, Tyler came running out. Regret was immediately tossed out as he watched Tyler throw a few very full trash bags into the trunk of Josh's truck, quickly running to get into the passenger seat. He was screaming at Josh to hurry up and go, and Josh swore he had never moved so fast in his life. Josh was driving well over the speed limit, and normally Tyler would say something about things like this, but he was on the verge of hyperventilating and was seeing tiny black dots in his vision. He closed his eyes, leaning back against the seat. He tried to focus on his breathing instead, not the almost extremely violent encounter he just had. He calmed himself down a bit, each minute that passed feeling like an eternity still. Josh was worried, no doubt about that, but he was focused on getting as far away from the complex as possible and not dying in the process. He was attempting to calm himself down too, focusing on the soft hum of his car radio amongst the loud roar of his engine. He turned the volume up a bit more, deciding focusing on music instead of not throwing up might help him relax.

The first beats of Hotline Bling played again, and Tyler instinctively let out a groan. The two boys spared momentary glances at each other, and started laughing. They both rapped what remained of the song through giggles and labored breath. Tyler never thought he'd be happy to hear a Drake song, Josh never thought he'd be appreciative of how repetitive radio stations were. Still recovering from the loss of breath, Tyler sat up straight before speaking,  
  
"Thank you for that, by the way."

  
Josh shrugged, throwing one of his hands up as he did so, "No problem. But you still have a _lot_ of explaining to do."

"Y'know what? Fair enough. Can we please just go back to your place first?"

  
Josh didn't say anything else, he just nodded as he just turned the volume dial up on his radio. Now a different song played although it was just as pretentious. Tyler had to hold back a possible third groan. He looked to his left to see Josh dancing a little and mouthing the words to the song. Upon noticing Tyler was looking at him, he started doing it more obnoxiously. Tyler giggled, reaching for the dial to change the station,

"If you keep doing that, I'm gonna go back to sleep on a sidewalk somewhere."

  
Josh faked offence, "Am I not a good enough rapper for you, Tyler? That hurts, man. That hurts deep."

  
Tyler only shook his head, and Josh refocused on the road as some other popular song played instead. Even if the sun was barely setting, the day felt more like a whole year. As dramatic and interesting as the day had been, Josh couldn't wait to get back home. Although, he wondered what it would be like not living alone for a while. Having Tyler there was bound to be awkward at first, but he knew he was sort of happy to not be alone all the time now. All Tyler was thinking about was that bacon and Redbull. He thought if he was staying at Josh's place, at least the Redbull would be constant, and that was good enough for him.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There it is! Hope it was enjoyed, hope it lived up to the hype of the first one. I will have to edit this one later, I was rushing to post it as to not keep anyone waiting, so it is subject to some changes. As stated before, please be patient regarding chapter 3 and stay stellar, pals.


	3. scared øf my øwn immaturity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're sort of getting to know each other, and what they know so far they don't mind.  
> The inevitable fear that comes with caring about someone is all that is stopping them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I havent had time to really edit this one so expect it to change sometime.  
> I will edit it after I post it, I just felt bad for having it all typed up and finished and not showing it.

Upon arriving back at Josh's apartment, Tyler dropped all his bags onto the floor, letting himself fall back onto his 'bed' aka the couch. Josh smirked as he placed down another bag, looking up to see Tyler close his eyes and relax. Josh realized his staring was creepy and potentially awkward if Tyler happened to catch him. Not to mention the fact that they were still total and complete strangers.

Although, Josh truly could not deny that Tyler was attractive. And although Tyler thought the same of the other as well, neither of the two would ever admit it out loud. Once more, they were completely 100% total definite strangers.

Josh walked into his kitchen, sighing as he rested his hands against the sink counter. He spent a minute or two contemplating making dinner or just buying food else where. He knew the latter was more likely. He called out to Tyler,

"Yo Tyler? You hungry?"

Tyler's eyes shot open immediately when he heard this question. Of course he was hungry. Especially if it involved some more bacon.

He pushed himself off the couch with great force, but still tried to appear calm as he half-rushed over to the kitchen. He didn't know Josh well and he wasn't sure if his antics were welcome yet, especially after Blurry's "antics". He felt awkward in his new environment still but couldn't help the small smile that crept onto his face as he responded.

"Yes. Please."

"What do you want to go get? I'd offer to go and leave you here so you didn't have to come and all, but I don't feel exactly comfortable doing that. But you can sleep in the car. Depending on where we go you can get 3 minutes of sleep at least."

Tyler shrugged, although he knew the area fairly well considering his girlfriend didn't live too far from Josh. He knew very well what he wanted, and his true love for the place won over his uncomfortable anxiety.

"I'm really feeling Taco Bell."

Josh swore that within that moment Tyler Joseph had just become his best friend. To say Josh's face lit up would be an understatement. To say it was equivalent to the sun would still be an understatement. The amount of excitement Josh felt upon hearing Tyler ask for Taco Bell was comparable to nothing else; it was a whole new level.

Anticipation fueling every fiber of his being, he quickly grabbed his keys and went back out to his car, Tyler once again close behind. He was keeping up far faster this time due to his equal levels of excitement. They were in the car and driving within a few minutes.  
  
They both seemed to realize they were over excited over some "mexican" food as they looked over at each other a few minutes of driving, consequently bursting into laughter. Josh felt the need to clarify his side of the infatuation with Taco Bell once he caught his breath.  
  
"Most of my money goes to things like college and gas, rent and all that. So fast food just makes things easier. The fact that I made breakfast was a miracle and I'm sorry to say, you really shouldn't expect that too often."  
  
Tyler nodded but knitted his eyebrows together in momentary confusion, "I'm sorry if this is weird to ask but if your money is towards college and gas, why would you live in such a fancy apartment with wood floors, a walk in closet, a piano, and a full kitchen? Wouldn't it save you money to live in a beat down one in a more dangerous area? Not that that's a good idea, but it's much cheaper."  
  
Sighing as he realized he'd have to explain how bad of a son he was and how good his parents were to him, Josh shrugged his shoulders and began to explain.  
  
"My parents didn't want me living in a dangerous place and they knew I would never ask them for the money. So instead of waiting for me to ask, they forced it onto me in a sense and pretty much began to give me a certain amount of money each month to pay for a portion of the rent making it easier for me. I couldn't argue and tell them no, or send their money back. They insisted. So I thought it was just nicer to accept it and drown in guilt as opposed to drowning in debt. Besides loaning me a bit every month is cheaper and less terrible than me calling them 10 years from now like, _'Hey mum, hey dad. I have $100,000 worth of debt for that fancy apartment. Kinda need that same amount immediately._ ' yknow?"  
  
Josh glanced at Tyler to see his reaction to all this, but only found a blank expression and a few head nods in response. If it wasn't awkward before, it was now. He cleared his throat, returning his eyes to the road. Tyler finally spoke - much to Josh's relief.

"They sound like nice people."  
  
"Oh they are! Yeah, I love my parents. If you don't mind me asking, what about yours?"  
  
Tyler cringed a little bit. He himself hadn't been the best son either. His mum and dad thought he was doing well out here. Every time they called, he'd tell them he still had a job and was still dating his girlfriend. Now he didn't even know if his cell phone was in one of the bags he brought back to Josh's apartment, or if his ex had already gotten rid of it. His parents would start to worry soon if he didn't get another phone soon.  
  
Josh, seeing how uncomfortable the topic made Tyler, quickly apologized for bringing it up but Tyler shook his head as he reassured the other that it was okay.  
  
"My parents are good people too. They love me, I love them. That's why I lie to them and tell them I'm doing okay out here. Because I don't want them to worry."  
  
Josh only had a second think about the irony of the 'I love them so I lie to them' thing as they pulled into the parking lot of Taco Bell. Seeing the drive thru was packed with one of the longest line either of them had seen, they opted to go inside instead. Josh dropped the conversation for now, but something about it really irked him. It wasn't the time to bring it up. Waiting in line inside of a Taco Bell in the late afternoon/early night isn't the best time to ask your new demon friend about his family issues.  
  
It was irrelevant for the five minutes they spent waiting in line, the other five minutes they spent ordering, and the seven minutes they spent waiting to get their food. It was good that Taco Bell got a lot of business, but it was hard to wait so long for food so delicious. Every second that passed felt like an eternity, but eventually they did get their food and headed back out to Josh's truck.  
  
The doors slammed shut and Josh placed the food and drinks in the space between them. He sighed as he tapped his fingers against his steering wheel before turning to Tyler.  
"Do you wanna go back and do nothing or would you rather go somewhere and eat this?"  
  
Tyler gave Josh a certain look and he knew, almost immediately starting the engine. He'd have to pick somewhere decently close, otherwise they'd be munching on cold Taco Bell- which was never a fun time.  
  
What better place to go than some abandoned lot full of dirt, only a few minutes away from their favourite fast food place? Not that it was fancy or anything, but precisely because it wasn't. It was simple, and wouldn't bother anyone. Although Tyler did shoot Josh an apprehensive look as they pulled into the area.  
  
"This looks like the place where someone takes to murder someone else. What do you have planned? Trick me into a false sense of security with delicious greasy food and then brutally kill me? That's pretty rude. Just when I was beginning to think you were pretty cool too."  
  
Nodding as he pulled the keys out of the ignition and put the car in park, Josh smirked at Tyler. He then opened the bag and began handing Tyler his drink and his food.  
  
"Dang, you're onto me. That was exactly my plan. Sorry bout that, Tyler."  
  
Something about Josh saying his name while talking to him felt nice, for lack of a better word. It wasn't spectacular, it didn't send electricity through his nerves, it didn't make his heart race. Josh's voice was just smooth and gentle, and hearing him address the other by name made Tyler feel just nice.  
  
The two laughed and began eating in silence. Now was a good of a time as any to bring up what Josh wanted to talk about earlier. But he couldn't do this without asking first.  
  
"Can I ask you something?"  
  
"Shoot."  
  
Josh readjusted in his seat, his legs hitting the steering wheel a bit. Even if he wasn't that tall, his truck wasn't made for anyone over 5'3. Poor Tyler was 7 inches more than that (Josh being 3 inches more), but he couldn't complain when he was being provided Taco Bell.

"Why don't you tell your parents you're struggling?"  
  
This one question made Tyler realize Josh wasn't going to let it go. He assumed Josh didn't care enough to ask but as proven before by Josh's previous actions, he cares quite a bit. Possibly too much at times.  
  
Suddenly the taco Tyler held didn't seem so important. The anxiety churned in his stomach, causing him to place his taco back down. He took a small sip of his drink, placing it down between his legs before taking a large breath in. He was almost literally bracing himself for having to explain something like this. He wasn't sure if he'd do it accurately enough, but he was going to try at least.  
  
"I don't want them to worry too much I guess. I don't want them to think it's their fault. I mean a large portion of it being I don't want them to have to deal with my burdens. I don't want them to feel like they should. I can't accept money from them and I can't tell them I need to come home. I just want them to be happy and I can do that by telling them that I am safe, successful and...happy."  
  
The car filled with silence again. Josh had stopped eating once he realized he had gotten a pretty heavy conversation going. He wanted to apologize for asking but no one said Tyler had to answer. Josh would remember it though, he appreciated that Tyler trusted him enough although it was quite quickly. He didn't mind. It felt good to be trusted, maybe even needed. Still, Josh knew he'd have to proceed with caution.

"Are you?"  
  
"Am I what?"  
  
"Are you happy?"  
  
Tyler didn't quite know the answer. There were multiple answers.  
Yes but no. Kind of but not really.  
All of which were accurate but there was one that summed all of them up the best.  
  
"Sometimes."

He paused, opened his mouth to say more but hesitated. Would it be too soon to say it? Was it weird? He remembered that 'weird' was his normal. When you are half demon, your concept of weird gets warped. He figured Josh knew this in some sense too. When you deal with demons, your concept of weird isn't exactly on par either. So he went for it.  
  
"I think knowing you're going to help me makes me happier, at least in this moment it does. It certainly helps that you bought me food. Thanks for that by the way. Thanks for the help too. Thanks for your couch. Thanks for everything is what I am trying to say. I'm sorry. I over-complicated that. I'm just-"  
  
"Tyler."  
  
He stopped. Rambling was a nervous habit he had but Josh recognized this, and did his best to reassure Tyler as he continued, "It's okay. You're welcome. I couldn't just throw you onto the street. I know we're just strangers but...."  
  
Getting attached to people quickly was something Josh did. Whether he liked it or not, it was just the way things were. It was something that he knew he did. It was something that had gotten him hurt a few times before. He could usually stop it before it happened. Usually pushing that person away or just not getting close to them in the first place. His friends were more so acquaintances that he genuinely liked but was too scared of losing to let himself care about them any more than standard acquaintance level.  
  
Although sometimes it was inevitable. Sometimes meaning only twice before. The Olsen twins had already made him cry before, and breaking up with Debby was just plain old-fashioned heartbreak at it's finest. But if Josh wasn't so scared of caring about people he would admit that this was feeling like a possible third.  
  
Knowing this, he continued what he was saying.  
  
"But I'm going to help you. I'm going to help you deal with Blurry. I'm going to help you get a job. I am going to help you. So don't worry about it, friend. Right now let's just eat this Taco Bell and we can go back afterwards and get some sleep."  
  
Tyler nodded as he picked his taco back up, the anxiety that once plagued him released its hold on his lungs and he felt like he could breath again. The tacos had gotten room temperature, but it was hard to complain at this point. Tyler thought about how Josh just called him friend, and how he made what was equivalent to a promise to help Tyler.  
  
Josh felt the silence was suffocating him, realizing that as well. He cared for Tyler. More than he wanted to.  
  
He decided music would fix this. Music had helped him through so much before, and he hoped it wouldn't fail him now.  
  
Of course, the sappiest indie love songs played and he just knew some force, most likely the big man in the sky himself, was just messing with him now. He'd turn to his second option to make the awkward fear he felt go away; Talking.  
  
Long after they had finished their tacos the two of them began talking about life as a whole. Mostly the funny things that had happened to them. Josh even told Tyler about the whole 'I cried over the Olsen twins in the fourth grade' bit. Tyler talked about his days of playing basketball. Josh recalled how his parents never let him indulge his interest in music, so he had to sneak to the music store every few days just to keep himself sane. Tyler kept laughing while he explained the time he started liking a girl when he was younger, simply because she was fast enough to tag him. Josh laughed along with him but saw a chance to be smooth.  
  
"I'm a pretty fast runner. Don't go falling for me."  
  
Tyler almost responded with a sly _'No promises'_ but held back.

"You probably aren't even _that_ fast. Gonna have to prove it."

Josh felt the pause and followed up with another story, & so the pattern continued. They traded stories for a majority of 3 hours. Josh only stopped when he got a text from his mum.  
  
"The money for this month is coming in early. Stay safe, Joshua. We love you. <3"  
  
He smiled, sending her a few heart emojis back along with a hastily typed 'thank you.' His phones clock read 10 o'clock, causing him to look at it twice. There was no way they could have been there for that long just talking. But his clock didn't lie to him. Time had flown by fast as they laughed over how dorky they used to be as kids.  
  
Tossing the last of the trash into the bag, Josh turned the keys in the ignition and the loud roar of his old beaten down engine sputtered before smoothing out. Tyler took to looking out the window on the way back to Josh's apartment. A few times Josh took the opportunity stopping at red lights to steal a glance at Tyler, who didn't even realize his face held a small smile as he looked up at the stars. Only once did Tyler look back and catch Josh staring at him (Josh quickly turned away), but Tyler was more worried Josh saw that he tried to steal a glance at him and quickly turned his attention back to the stars above them.  
  
When they got back inside the apartment, Tyler stopped and stared at the bags on the floor.  
  
"Josh?"  
  
Tyler called out, assuming he was somewhere else in the apartment. Josh came to stand next to Tyler and replied with a simple hum. The taller boy flinched a bit, not expecting the sound to be that close to him. He clutched his chest, trying to laugh it off but calm his heart at the same time.  
  
"I was just going to ask you where I could put my stuff. I mean even though I'm not staying here forever, I don't want to have these trashy looking bags sitting in your apartment. Unless you want me to leave them in the bags. Then that's rad too."   
  
Shrugging and rubbing the back of his neck, he pointed to the cabinet in the hallway.  
  
"I think there's some extra shelves in there that aren't being used. Here, I'll grab a few bags and you can bring the rest over."  
  
He obliged, following Josh to where he had gotten his towel the night before. They were fairly large cabinets but when Josh opened all of the doors to see into them, he saw Josh really didn't use that much of the space they provided.  
  
Even if this was true, he still made a noise of irritation towards himself. He had wasted space by not stacking a few towels on top of others. He kneeled down and began rearranging them. He let out small grunts as he tried to stuff a few too many towel into one stack, apologizing, and consequently gave up when he heard Tyler giggling behind him. He stood back up, genuinely fatigued from the work he had done.  
  
"Hey, I am doing this for you. Don't go laughing at me."  
  
"I'm sorry. You are right. Thank you my noble knight in shiny armour, Joshua Dun, for your valiant fight against those towels."  
  
  
Josh squinted at him, being all too familiar with that sarcastic tone.  
  
The two worked to put Tyler's things onto the shelves. Tyler seemed especially secretive about a few items, shoving them in the back and taking special care to not let them be seen but Josh figured that was fair. He needed privacy like anyone else. At some point, Josh made a comment when he saw Tyler struggling to fit a few things onto a specific shelf.  
  
"Not winning your 'valiant' fight?"  
  
"These are a bit tougher than towels. A muscularly inferior man such as yourself wouldn't understand."  
  
Seeing this as a challenge, he asked Tyler to move aside and eventually did fit the last of his stuff on the rest of the shelves. Both of them stood up and stared at Josh's now full cabinet. One side with towels, the other side with Tyler's things.  
It was pretty convenient how well it worked out. So well it was almost perfectly split down the middle.  
  
Josh closed the cabinets and looked at Tyler. The question of what to do next was clearly on both of their minds, neither of them held the answer. It felt like a good solid 5 seconds of pure silence before it occurred to Josh.  
  
"If you aren't tired yet, I have some video games in my room. If you wanted to do that."  
  
Worried that sounded like some type of innuendo or something possibly even equivalent to netflix and chill, he didn't wait for Tyler's answer before he made his way to his room. Tyler happily followed, unaware of the underlying sexual implications the statement could have held.

Tyler stared in awe from the doorway of Josh's room. A decent sized flat screen was mounted on the wall across from Tyler, two bean bags sat on a rug on the floor below it. Josh fell back onto one after turning on his nintendo 64 console. He patted the bean bag next to him, and Tyler very excitedly obliged.  
  
"I can't believe you still have that. And all the games too? Your parents are officially the best."

Alternating between games for almost an hour until they finally settled on Super Smash Bros, Josh spent the majority of the time winning and Tyler spent it in being a sore loser. They played for hours into earlier morning; Tyler gave up half way through and took Josh up on his offer to "show him how it's done" on story mode.  
  
Tyler was only partially paying attention. He caught himself staring at the weird faces Josh made when he concentrated enough. Sometimes Josh would stick his tongue out a little bit as his eyebrows furrowed. He never just stopped sticking out his tongue either, he always ran it over his lips before he either screamed in excitement or anger. There was also this small smirk he wore whenever it was obvious he was going to win. Even if it was obvious, it didn't stop the victory celebration afterwards from being just as hype as the other ones.  
  
Josh was amidst giving Tyler tips on how to beat one of the metallic bosses, explaining their small weaknesses and sometimes even small glitches the game had when Tyler huffed loudly. Josh assumed Tyler was making a noise at him, expecting a sarcastic comment to follow it. He turned to face Tyler, his pointer finger up in a matter-of-factly position. He got one word into his sentence before he realize Tyler was fast asleep. The dramatic out take of air wasn't towards Josh after all, it was a response to whatever was causing him distress. Tyler shifted, curling into himself and murmuring something. His eyebrows knitted together as his murmurs slowly became frantic whimpers. He seemed to be having a nightmare and although he wanted to help, Josh felt bad as he realized he could do little to nothing about it. Lucky for him, the urgent nature of the situation died down as Tyler relaxed a little bit. The once fast paced murmurs become small scarce whispers again.  
  
Taking in the situation, Josh took a moment to contemplate his options. On one hand, he could leave Tyler there and let him power through whatever was going on. On the other hand, he could screw himself over by comforting him and helping him the best he could, and thus getting himself more attached to Tyler. It truly wasn't a question of which he'd pick, knowing the latter was what he'd do regardless.  
  
He stood up, going over to his tv and shutting it off along with the console. Looking around his room for something to use to execute his plan, Josh sighed in defeat as he realized he had nothing. He was going to have to just hope he didn't mess this up.

He took a deep breath in as he kneeled down, slipping his arms under Tyler's knees and arms. Upon standing up, he stumbled a bit causing Tyler to stir but not wake. He sighed in relief when he regained his balance, seeing Tyler calm down as well. Proceeding to carry him bridal style, Josh was going towards his bed when Tyler snuggled closer into Josh's chest. Even in his sleep, Tyler could recognize the smell of the lavender scented detergent Josh used.  
  
Josh tensed up, almost tightening his grip on Tyler who cuddled impossibly closer. Josh had to put Tyler down immediately before the heart attack he was bound to have would hit. He rushed over and placed Tyler down as gently as he could, hastily covering him with blankets and running out of the room.

It was supposed to be a simple task. Pick up Tyler, put him in an actual bed for tonight at least, and go sleep on the couch. Somehow within the 10 seconds it should have taken him, things got complicated. How was he supposed to know Tyler would snuggle closer? A simple kind gesture was not supposed to turn romantic.  
  
The worst part for Josh was knowing that Tyler didn't even mean to. He was asleep, he didn't even know he did that.  
  
_He didn't know_.

Realizing this, Josh figured he could forget it happened without the risk of Tyler bringing it up. The only possible issue would be Josh bringing it up himself for whatever reason. He didn't know how that could happen, but he didn't doubt its likelihood.

He wanted to scream at himself for so many reasons. The list could truly end up being infinite. His main reason was simply feeling the attachment growing between him and Tyler, whether he liked it or not. He could kick Tyler out and push him away, but it was too late. If he did that he would feel bad. A feeling he rarely dealt with because he never let himself get this close, especially not this fast.  
  
To put it simply, he was completely and totally screwed. And he knew it.

Josh fell back onto the couch, his body hitting the cushions with a soft thud. Rolling over to be face down into the pillow, he groaned loudly.

While he was never a great sleeper, he decided he'd force himself to sleep. Preferring to deal with his stubborn insomnia over his attachment to some random demon guy. The night terrors he faced were much easier to come to terms with than the feelings of a developing crush. 

"Crush?" He thought as he frowned into the pillow. "What was this? The fourth grade?"

 Tyler was not Mary Kate and Ashley by far. But he sure gave them a run for their money. 

Rolling back over and resting his hands on his stomach, his eyes focused on his ceiling as he let out a dry sarcastic laugh. He whispered to himself in the darkness. 

"20 bucks says you'll like him and hate yourself a lot more by the end of next week at the latest."

He pulled the blankets onto him, turning to face the couch's backrest. He closed his eyes, willing himself to go to sleep but not before responding to the bet he made to himself earlier.

" _Shut up_."  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, apologies for any mistakes.  
> It got really gay really fast. I told myself I was gonna pace it out and make it realistic. But here we are. Taco Bell & emotional talks.
> 
> With how much Taco Bell is mentioned I should be sponsored by them. You're welcome, you over rated non-mexican food place.
> 
> Stay stellar everyone!


	4. i'll be hiding all my prøblems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh & Tyler have been around each other for 3 days now. Some things were bound to come to light but neither of them really thought it'd be this fast. Nothing a cliche cafe can't fix.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes, sorry friends. Let me explain. My internet was giving me M A J O R issues for the majority of 3 months-ish. As much as I wanted to post this sooner, two things stopped me. The first being that whole internet shenanigan and the second being the fact that I rewrote this so many times. I'm scared it's not interesting enough or is too cliche. But it's kinda of a filler chapter. I just had to get them to a certain point. Hope you all enjoy & forgive any mistakes that may be there.  
> ALSO VERY IMPORTANT:  
> Jenna is not Tyler's ex in this. 
> 
> Jenna is not involved in this fic (as of now.) Why? Because I really really hate when people demonize Jenna for the sake of Joshler. I refuse to make her Tyler's ex because she doesn't fit the abusive shitty ex-girlfriend role. She is his wife. She loves him, and he loves her. So out of respect for them I refuse to make Jenna his bitter ex in this story. It's some random girl as of now. She's not that important to the story anyway.  
> Thank you.

Although disturbed by his mind's torment, Tyler slept better in Josh's bed than he had ever slept elsewhere. The lavender scent was even stronger here than on the couch and something about that was almost comforting. Almost.

Tyler had struggled with nightmares plenty before, but to say Blurryface worsened them would be putting it lightly. Worsened meaning the nightmares became more common, and more vividly terrifying. The worst part was they weren't the type of nightmares that jolted someone awake. To allow such a quick escape was far too kind and for this reason, was not allowed. Tyler was stuck until he naturally woke up by himself. Until his eyelids shed light onto the darkest parts of his mind, regaining control as his conscious mind awoke. Unfortunately for him, he was a generally pretty heavy sleeper.

Josh, on the other hand, struggled with insomnia. He had nightmares on a regular basis but not necessarily every night. They were still enough to make him almost literally fear sleep. He purposely avoided sleep as much as possible, but eventually exhaustion would take over and he'd have to take a nap at the very least. His nightmares usually weren't bloody and traumatizing like Tyler's, but they were depressing and sometimes they felt too real. Sometimes Josh was almost happy he was alive and awake, as opposed to stuck in the prison that was his unconscious mind.

Last night was one of the rare occasions Josh actually slept. Of course, it wasn't peaceful. More nightmares ensued. The usual; It was just him in the midst of pure nothingness. Darkness engulfed the entirety of the space around him. Assuming there was space around him and he wasn't just floating amongst the shadows. He couldn't tell if he was sitting or standing in the dreams, or if he even had a physical being. It was just darkness, and his thoughts were free to go to places he'd typically avoid. Free to remind him of the things he so desperately tried to forget. His dreams were the similar to Tyler's in the sense that they weren't the type to jolt him awake unfortunately. He only escaped when his eyes began to flutter open on their own.

As his body and mind came back to him, it took him a moment to realize he was on the couch. Another moment was dedicated to remembering why he was on the couch.

_Tyler._

Josh sat up quickly upon remembering he still had company. He stretched a bit as he groggily looked around. As much as he wanted to make food for his guest again, his laziness prevented him from doing so. Considering his options, he stood up and made his way over to his room.

Slowly pushing his door open he saw Tyler entangled in blankets, pillows astray around him. Tyler had made a mess of Josh's bed, but Josh figured Tyler had some pretty bad nightmares and probably tossed and turned due to them. If the bit he witnessed last night was only the tip of the iceberg, the rest of it must have been _rough_ to say the least.

As far as he could tell, Tyler had calmed down and was getting some actual sleep now. He bet he could go out and grab breakfast for the both of them really fast, or at least fast enough for him to return before Tyler woke up. If so was possible, he'd have to leave immediately. Luckily for him, he went to bed without changing his clothes last night, which saved some time. Was it gross? A little bit, but truthfully his tired mind found ways to excuse it.

Throwing on his black jacket, he pulled the zipper up and stuffed his car keys into his pocket. He turned to leave, his hand hovering over the door knob as he paused for a moment, considering something before he went into the kitchen. Grabbing a notepad and a pen, he scribbled out a note and left it on the kitchen table. He began to move from his spot but froze, hesitating once more. He stared at the note in slight disgust as he realized this was a cliche that happened in almost every romantic-comedy movie ever. What else was he supposed to do? Just leave Tyler there with no clue as to where he went? It was the logical and considerate thing to do. Just a simple note that read;

" _Went out to get food. Back soon._ "

It's not like he signed it with a little heart at the end, or even signed it at all;

" _\- Josh_ ♡"

He turned his back to the note on the table, his eyes landing on the mop across the room, in the corner. It still had blood on it and since it had been in there so long, Josh made a small mental note to buy a new mop later. The old mop was a sort of mocking reminder that this was all real. He honestly had a half demon in his house, he truly did have to take care of said demon, and he really had to leave a note for him. So Josh did. It was as plain, simple, and not at all romantic as that. He decided to leave when he told himself he was just over thinking it. Besides he'd be helping himself (and Tyler) more by getting them food instead.

His anger still bubbled up inside of him regardless. He wasn’t even sure why he was angry, there were too many reasons to choose from. One for being he so carelessly and just willingly took a random man into his home. Another reason being the foolish idea that he could handle this all on his own but the reason that irked him the most was the fact that he even considered anything slightly romantic in regards to Tyler. He was just a stranger. _Just. A._ _Stranger_. It was just a note. _Just. A_. _Note_.

Just a stranger that had Josh's heart beating fast, and _just_ a note that had his mind reeling.

Not being able to handle his own thoughts and thus acting like a five year old throwing a temper tantrum, he almost literally stomped out of his apartment, not noticing how hard he slammed the door behind him.

\----

Tyler jumped, the loud noise ringing in his ears. He had been laying half awake for a while, just staring at the pillows and blankets around him. He was slowly letting his mind come around, patiently waiting for himself to be ready to get up. That was until the unnecessarily thunderous sound had so rudely rushed him into a state of full consciousness.

Groaning but ultimately accepting his fate, he began to detangle himself from the sea of polyester and cotton. Just like Josh had, Tyler also needed a second to realize where he was.

This was not his room. Nor was it his girlfriend's - ahem, _ex_ -girlfriend's room. Nor was it his room back home either. But that flowery detergent scent was strong in its presence, and it finally clicked.

_Josh._

That smell was nothing other that Josh's detergent. It wasn't anything special truthfully. Tyler had smelt it before, his girlfriend had used it from time to time - although she prefered more generic smells like 'Original Fresh' (what is that supposed to even smell like?). Josh's apartment had a consistent smell of those pastel flowers (which was an actual scent that made sense unlike 'Original Fresh'). The smell of lavender was rare back in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio so due to how common it was in this apartment it'd been a dead giveaway once Tyler remembered it.

Only fragments of last night hazily floated around in his mind, but the last thing he thoroughly remembered was listening to Josh talk about how "skilled" he was in all these video games but the actual dialogue exchanged was amiss in his memories. To anyone else this was nothing, but it was different for Tyler. It would bother him if he didn't know at least some of what he had said. If it was even him. The thought of it being Blurry scared him more than anything else. Since Tyler doesn't remember what Blurry does (and Blurry doesn't remember what Tyler does), any time Tyler had even the slightest bit of memory missing he'd immediately begin to worry.

He wasn't going to allow himself to have a panic attack. It was only his third day here and if Josh came back to Tyler crying and shaking violently, it'd be awkward to say the least. In a desperate attempt to calm down, he shifted his focus to something else quickly. That something else was just the plain obvious, and obviously he was laying in Josh's bed. He didn't think he'd ever really get over how much he enjoyed that smell. Something about it, it just smelt so genuine as if an actual meadow was near by. For an apartment in the city of smog (Los Angeles), achieving that smell was pretty impressive. Impressive enough that it might have felt peaceful like a meadow too had Tyler not had another nightmare. It was a regular nightly occurrence so he couldn't feign even the smallest amount of surprise at this point.

Regardless having dreams in which you're a homicidal maniac who kills those who are closest to him isn't something one just gets used to per se. Unless it wasn't actually Tyler. He never truly knew. It may have been Blurry but seeing as how they shared the singular 'Tyler' body, it didn't matter much to him. _Physically_ it would always be Tyler. The palms and fingers stained in blood would always belong to him.

Thinking of the possibility, he swore he felt something wet resting on his finger tips and in his palm. Tyler brought his shaking hands into view, just to make sure they weren't covered in the warm red liquid he came to fear. As expected they were clean and fine, he was perfectly fine. He knew he was being unreasonable but all he could do was shake his head as he attempted to drown out those thoughts and replace them with others. He had many questions in mind but the most relevant one came into focus:

_What had that noise been?_

He finally dragged himself out of Josh's bed, missing the absence of warmth and that ever so beautiful smell. He rolled his head back, his neck sounding out a few loud pops. Tyler let out a small groan of pleasure as he felt a small portion of the built up tension being released. He attempted to roll his shoulders back and twist his back but they wouldn't grant him the same satisfaction.

Accepting this small defeat, he headed towards the bedroom door and cautiously opened it. He peaked around the corner - glancing left and right in a cartoonish fashion - before fully exiting the room. He stood in front of the doorway, observing his surroundings. The blankets on the couch were a mess, and there was a severe lack of Josh amidst the cushions and pillows. Tyler figured Josh could just be in the bathroom, and if he wasn't Tyler needed to brush his teeth anyway.

With this thought, he walked to the bathroom to see it was just as the couch was; empty. He sighed and entered the room, going about a typical routine. He washed his face at the end of it all and as he looked up, he frowned upon seeing his reflection.

That's him. That was a reflection of him. That was Tyler Robert Joseph. There was no denying it. Unless there was. Who was to say he isn't a reflection to someone else? Someone else who looks like him, but has a different name, a different life. Maybe he's the reflection and the person he is seeing on the other side of the mirror is an actual person. What if it was both? He figured the multi-universe theory had to come from somewhere. Who was he to deny it? He couldn't exactly prove his singular existence. But then again-

_Breathe, Tyler. Breathe._

He took a few deep breaths, realizing once again he was being irrational. He let out a bitter laugh towards himself, the "other him" mimicking him as he did so. He stared for a few seconds before exiting the bathroom,

"Stupid."

He'd barely been awake for half an hour or so now, and he already wanted today to end. Or for Josh to come back because Tyler had gathered he'd left the apartment for whatever reason. Tyler secretly prayed he didn't leave for work or school, he really didn't feel he could be alone for any extended periods of time today.

But it really wasn't Josh's responsibility to look after him, and Tyler realized this. He was a guest, and he was lucky Josh even cared enough to let him stay here. Regardless, Josh is a complete stranger and to expect a stranger to care about someone so quickly was insane. Right? He knew it was, of course it was. Despite knowing & believing this, Tyler knew this feeling and he knew he was well beyond screwed. He felt the smallest bit of care for Josh, and he could only hope Josh shared the feeling. Tyler figured there was nothing wrong with this. It's how you make friends. That's all it was. Tyler was becoming friends with Josh. Logically. Someone who agrees to help you is obviously someone you'd want to befriend.

He returned to the living room and was now staring down at Josh's makeshift "bed". He wondered why Josh had opted to sleep here, and wondered how he even ended up in Josh's bed. The least he could do was help Josh a little bit and tidy up. But before he did so, he needed noise, music, anything but silence. It was too quiet and he didn't want the company of his thoughts anymore. They'd done enough already.

He could have searched for speakers or a radio but he immediately resorted to just singing to himself as he began to fold the blanket and rearrange the cushions on the couch. He wasn't one for most songs on the radio but he couldn't deny the fact that they were catchy -hence their popularity. Besides Drake, Tyler could at least appreciate the beats in most pop songs. Those artists did still deserve some credit, even if they were victims to society's ideals and conformity for the sake of capitalism but that was a rant that he would save for when someone was around to hear it. Regardless, he could appreciate a good beat in a popular song but to admit he liked it was something he was hesitant to do.

Tyler had written his own music before, and he'd sing it to himself a lot. He was narcissistic in some sense, seeing as he preferred his own music over others but the fact was Tyler was talented. He used to have a ukulele but at the time, his girlfriend told him it was a stupid hobby and he needed to find a real job. So she sold it. He missed his instrument but he figured he could get a new one when he got a job and saved up enough money.

That was irrelevant for now. He had set out to fix the couch before Josh got back and he was going to do so. As small and insignificant as it was, it felt important to him.

He hummed a familiar tune as he took the first blanket in his hands. He had written so many songs but there were certain ones that were easier to sing casually. The reason for this being he wrote a lot of songs about personal issues he has dealt with or is still dealing with (typically the latter). This mainly consisted of suicidal thoughts, self harm, self doubt, anxiety, depression, and things of the like. Other songs he'd written had more subtle ways of talking about similar things and didn't hurt as much to sing out loud. One of these songs being a relatively simple song of his; 'Oh Miss Believer.'

Yes, it did have a message and yes he did hold meaning to him but he rarely explained his songs to people. He wanted the few people he let listen to his songs to find their own meanings and relate to the song in a more personal way as opposed to him telling them how to.

He only hummed it as he finished folding the second blanket and re-adjusting the pillows. He achieved the goal he'd set. And once more, even if small and unimportant he had still accomplished something today.

But now what?

Tyler turned to survey his surroundings once more but didn't get far. His eyes found the piano immediately. Sure he had seen it before but he hadn't had the opportunity to wonder about it, let alone take a closer look at it. That was until now.

He slowly made his way over to the wooden piano. It was large and in beautiful condition, causing Tyler to wonder if Josh's parents had bought him this as well.

Tyler ran his fingers over the keys and was surprised to see they were dusty. He assumed Josh played it but apparently not often if at all.

Tyler's eyes lit up as he remembered something. He quickly withdrew from the piano and quickly made his way towards the hallway cabinets. After some digging, he found where he had hid his song book. He didn't want Josh to find it so he hid it under some of his clothes as they were packing all his stuff into the space. He hid it alongside other personal items, but there was no doubt; His songbook was the most personal item he'd ever owned.

He carried the dingy old book back to the piano. The spine of it was weak and softened from the regular use. The once black hard cover was now gray. The pages were faded, but the writing was still clear. He sat down on the stool and flipped through the pages of hand drawn staves and years worth of songs until he found what he was looking for.

He took a moment to plunk out a few notes since he hadn't given his music much attention for a while - again, his ex-girlfriend's doing, not his.

When he finally did get the right notes and practiced it a bit, he felt the music just begin to flow naturally. His mind may have had it's doubts but his hands remembered how to play his songs still. His fingers led the way against the cold yellow ivory, and his voice soon followed. He found himself so into his music he hadn't noticed Josh had returned.

"Your shaking shoulders prove that it's colder,

inside your head, than the winter of dead.

I will tell you I love you, but the muffs on your ears will cater your fears.

My nose and feet are, running as we start, to travel through snow, together we go...."

He had walked in with a bag of two breakfast orders from Denny's, and his keys held in his mouth. He'd heard the music as soon as he walked in and made sure to be extra quiet once he realized exactly what he walked in on.

Josh quietly but quickly placed the food on the counter in the kitchen before creeping to the couch to sit and watch. He'd taken note of the folded blankets and straightened pillows, but prioritized the music over those. He leaned forward, running his hand through his fiery hair. He'd walked in mid first verse and didn't want to miss anything else.

Tyler continued unknowingly,

"Oh miss believer, my pretty weeper.

our twisted thoughts, are like snow on the roof tops.

Please take my hand, we're in foreign land. As we travel through snow, together we go.... "

Tyler's voice continued on to repeat the chorus once more before it dissipated to let the piano end the song.

Josh sat on the edge of the cushion at this point and began applauding as the sounds of the piano finished echoing - causing Tyler to  jump at the sudden sound. He quickly got up from the seat, grabbing his notebook and hugging it tightly to his chest.Tyler admitted with a laugh.

"My god, Josh. You scared me."

Josh felt himself flood with guilt and quickly apologized.

"I'm sorry if I wasn't supposed to touch the piano. It was there. I just wanted to see if it worked. Um, h-how much did you hear?"

Shrugging, Josh said, "About a third and a half of it. I missed the first few lines of the first verse I'm assuming. I mean judging by basic song lay out it seems to be a shorter song."

Tyler nodded, still gripping onto his notebook. He had to admit he was kind of impressed with Josh's musical knowledge even if it was basic. He'd just assumed since Josh didn't play the piano he didn't care much for music theory or anything technical about music. Tyler had gotten lost in his own thoughts for a moment, causing Josh to clear his throat in order to break the silence between them.

"I brought Denny's. I got one order of bacon, hash browns, and pancakes and one order of a bacon omelet. So whichever you want."

As Josh finished speaking, he turned his back and made his way to the kitchen, holding the bag in one hand and signalling for Tyler to follow him with the other.

Upon the two entering the kitchen, the aroma that filled the air practically had Tyler drooling. Josh took out both containers, opening each on the counter. Tyler stared at the pancakes and Josh got the hint. When Tyler sat down Josh followed him to the table,placing the black container down and pushing it over to Tyler. He then placed the container that held the cheesy bacon omelet in front of the seat closest to Tyler. He turned to go back to the fridge without bothering to ask Tyler about his drink preferences. When he returned he placed 2 cans of RedBull on the table, one for each of them.

Tyler had only been here for two days and Josh was already getting into a routine.

He finally sat down and took a bite of his omelet. Tyler was already done with one pancake and had only paused to open his drink. Josh had began to eat, stopping to clear his throat to get the others attention.

"You still haven't fully explained Blurryface to me, yknow?"

Tyler immediately tensed up. He swallowed a mouthful of Redbull and looked at other. Upon seeing Josh was literally waiting for a response, he gave in.

"Well, what do you want to know exactly?"

Josh placed his plastic fork down, cracking open his Redbull and taking a large swig of it as he considered various questions. He had many, tons actually. But he'd have to prioritize certain ones.

"How did it- well, how did he sorta happen? Was he always a part of you or did some creepy traumatizing possession have to take place?"

Tyler stifled a laugh in response to the latter option he was presented. He couldn't say either was wrong but he needed to explain this in a way that actually made sense.

"I think he was always a part of me. He's the dark parts of my mind, everyone has their own 'Blurryface' honestly. It's just as I got older, things happened and it made him stronger I guess? Strong enough for him to become his own being in a way. If that makes any sense at all."

He paused to glance up at Josh, who was staring intently at Tyler. Tyler suddenly became very aware of himself and everything around him. He was aware his hands were beginning to shake. He felt every fold of his clothes against his dry skin. He felt each hair growing on his chin, each eyelash, each hair on his head; all of them coming alive. He could feel each distinct groove of his finger tips against the white plastic fork he held. He was aware of Josh's messy red hair the hung over his light brown eyes, never shifting their focus off of Tyler. Aware of how Josh's hold on his Redbull never ceased, as if time has frozen. Mostly aware of how genuinely interested Josh looked, how much he seemed to care. Some of these things Josh hadn't even noticed.

Tyler took his fork and lightly poked at his pancakes as he continued.

"I'd say he got stronger after some stuff went down in my last couple of years in high school. It's cliche to say but high school wasn't easy for me. People were nice to me for the most part, but it was just something beyond that. And yknow, most people don't get as bad as I did. Well anyone who's normal doesn't but I wasn't....actually I'm still not just an normal _'anyone'_. Blurry is kind of my own fault in a way. I sort of created him, he's another me. He's also his own fault because I couldn't stop him from becoming a literal demon and giving me scary powers and all that fun stuff. But he's also a driving force in a sense. He gives me something to fight against, even if it is tiresome."

Tyler stopped when he realized he was rambling. He cleared his throat,

"Basically he was always there, but he got stronger. He once was a small portion of me, insignificant. Now he's obviously a much larger part of me, so much so he's his own thing now. Only thing truly stopping him is us sharing this body. Sucks for him. Sucks for me too I guess. But yeah."  

Josh nodded as he processed everything Tyler had just told him. While he had understood what he was told, he had many questions about the details of Tyler's explanation.

 

_What happened during high school? How bad did he get? How the hell did it go from Tyler's mental issues to him being able to heal wounds and have red eyes? What the hell was happening?_

Again, he had to prioritize certain questions.

"I'm sure that was a fun adventure." He attempted to joke around and lighten the mood, earning a small smile from Tyler who took small bites of his food as Josh continued, "Can I ask something not so Blurryface related?"

Tyler nodded. He was the smallest bit less nervous now with the topic change. Talking about Blurry made him feel delusional. He thought Josh was judging him every second he spoke about it. Josh was too nice to do that and Tyler knew it but that didn't stop him from worrying though.

"What happened when we went to pick up your stuff from the apartment?"

So much for relaxing. This wasn't a Blurryface question, this was an ex-girlfriend question. Which was arguably worse.

The air filled with silence for a few seconds as Tyler opened his mouth to begin multiple times before he pressed his lips together in a firm line. He took a deep breath before he finally began,

"I vaguely mentioned my girlfriend before. She isn't a terrible person. Well not all of the time. Sometimes she just isn't in her right mind and she says things that aren't okay. That's why I broke up with her actually. We've broken up hundreds of times before this. She usually broke up with me, sometimes I broke up with her. This time I was the one who ended it but I guess this time I really mean it. I don't want to go back to-....It's just not worth fighting for anymore."

Josh squinted, waiting for further explanation. Tyler had completely stopped though, taking even smaller bites of the last of his pancake. Josh realized Tyler didn't plan to continue and decided he'd try to pry it out of him. Normally he wasn't one to pry but this was different.

"So what did I witness? What was that whole interaction exactly?"

Tyler hesitated. He didn't want to tell Josh this much. But he felt as if he owed him an explanation after how dramatic the aftermath was.

 

"When I went to pack the rest of my stuff, she just started getting super touchy. Like arms around me and kissing my cheek touchy. She was begging me to stay and of course I said no. She kept begging, I kept saying no. She got upset and started going on about how she never loved me, how she wished I was dead, how she cheated on me with so many guys so many times. Stuff she knew would bother me. I just stayed quiet and kept packing, figured it was best to not add fuel to the fire. So she switched to things she knew I couldn’t ignore. She uh….She started threatening to kill herself if I left. She'd made that threat so many times before and I knew she was just trying to manipulate me so I tried to ignore it. I did well until she started talking about the vivid details of how she'd do it. About how her mum would miss her so much, her little brother would hate me for making her do this. How I was never a good boyfriend and how everyone would always blame me for it if she-"

Tyler's voice cracked slightly but didn't alarm Josh. He was looking at Tyler the whole time and saw his eyes beginning to water before he heard his voice falter. Josh frowned as he leaned forward. He asked if Tyler wanted water but received no response. His eyes were fixated on the table in front of him, his hands shook more visibly now. He couldn't hear anything else around him, just the blood rushing through his veins. His heart beat so strong he swore he felt it throughout his whole body. He'd since placed his fork down and had his hands balled up on top of the table. Josh spoke again to ask him if he was okay but was cut off when Tyler murmured a quick and quiet 'excuse me' before he pushed his chair out. It seemed Josh had only blinked once before he heard the bathroom door slam shut. Josh didn't process what was happening until he heard Tyler heaving and coughing. That plus the shaking hands and the tears made Josh realize; Tyler was having an anxiety attack. A pretty severe one too.

Josh knew this all too well. He'd rarely ever gotten to the point of puking, it was mostly pathetic sobbing and hyperventilating. But he knew everyone's anxiety was different. Everyone reacted differently to severe panic.

What made it all the worse was Josh knew it was his fault. He had asked. He made Tyler talk about something that clearly upset him.

His own thoughts tortured him;

_'How to Make Your Guests Feel Comfortable- with Josh Dun: Do that._

_Causing an anxiety attack will really make them feel welcome.’_

He sighed, silencing his thoughts as  he prioritized fixing his mistake over beating himself up about it. He filled a cup with water and made his way to the bathroom. He didn't hear anymore coughing or heaving which he assumed was a kind of good sign. He knocked on the door, glass of water still in hand.

"Tyler? Are you okay?"

Silence.

"I've got some water for you. Can I come in?"

More silence.

Josh wrapped his hand around the door knob, checking to see it Tyler had locked it. Of course he hadn't, he didn't have time to. He was too busy trying not to puke. Knowing this and feeling the guilt building up again, Josh held the door slightly open before announcing,

"I'm gonna come in, okay?"

He pushed the door open to see a quivering Tyler on the floor, leaning on the toilet. His eyebrows furrowed in concern, Josh bent down onto the floor and placed the glass of water on the sink.

"Hey Ty?"

As groggy and disgusting as Tyler felt, he still noticed Josh's nickname for him. It was everyone's nickname for him from time to time but it was the first time Josh had said it. He turned his head to look at Josh. He was sure he looked gross and probably smelt gross as well but he mustered out a small fragile, "Hmm?"

"Are you okay?"

“I’ve had better days.”  
  
He smiled at Josh, who let out a small laugh.

"I’m sorry."

Tyler shrugged.  
  
“Come on, friend. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

It wasn't that Tyler was messy per se but given he hadn't even flushed his throw up down and he could probably still taste it, Josh figured Tyler might appreciate some maintenance. Tyler again took note of Josh's small nicknames he seemed to be developing for him. Tyler himself called people friend from time to time so as small of a gesture as it was, it was appreciated. Josh did it without even noticing and continued on.

Josh leaned over and flushed the toilet before handing Tyler the glass of water. He wiped the few tears that had fallen onto his cheeks. He shifted his weight onto the wall next to the toilet before he finally drank. He watched Josh from over the rim of the glass, watching as he grabbed Tyler’s toothbrush and got it all ready for him (even getting him some mouth wash).

By the time Josh turned to help Tyler get up, he had drank all the water and desperately wanted more. Between a couple tiny yawns, he asked Josh for another glass.

"After you brush your teeth and take a shower, yeah? We have a lot to do today."

Josh leaned down, sliding his arm under Tyler's. Tyler slung his arm over Josh's shoulder and waited for Josh to lift Tyler's legs too but when he found he would have to that part on his own, he almost felt disappointed. He held back the urge to vocally complain as he stood up.

"Okay, so you brush your teeth now or you can do it after you shower. Let me get you a towel-"

"I got it."

Tyler walked out of the bathroom before Josh could argue. He wanted to be more polite and do more things for Tyler considering he'd just made him freak out but Tyler seemed tired and it wasn't worth arguing over.

Tyler grabbed a towel and a change of clothes and went to take a shower while Josh went to the kitchen to clean up. He threw away what was left of Tyler's food (half of a cold pancake) and with his already being empty, he washed out both containers. He placed them on the counter, making a mental note to put them in the recycle bin later.

He had informed Tyler they'd be busy today and he wasn't lying. He had work today and he planned to get Tyler a job there too. Tyler didn't have to look amazing, he'd just have to look presentable. Josh would have to do the same (even if he didn’t have to wear a uniform). Which meant he'd have to shower. Something he'd neglected for a couple of days now.

He couldn't help but feel guilty and disgusting. He had a guest and he was roaming around his apartment smelling gross. Not cool. That's what happens when depression makes you wanna die. You lose motivation to even shower. He knew that was no excuse. He'd shower, regardless if he wanted to or not.

________

After both of them were showered, Tyler was dressed. Josh had barely pulled on a shirt. Tyler grimaced which earned him a look and a small laugh from Josh.

"What? What was that face? Is my stomach gross or something? Or does me being shirtless around you make you cringe? Sorry, dude. Didn’t think my body was that bad."

Tyler shook his head, "No, it's not any of that. It's just that you didn't even fully dry your body before you put your shirt on. Doesn't that bother you? Your shirt is sticking to you, Josh! What the heck?! Seriously, who does that?!"

Josh laughed even louder, feeling nostalgic as he remembered his mum telling him the same thing.

"What? I'm a busy guy I don't have time to dry off."

"Busy?? We've done little to nothing for about two days, I don't even know what we are doing today. You could have spared a couple of minutes to dry yourself completely."

"Nah. Can't do that. We gotta go to work. Right now. I need to get money and you need to get a job. When we come back, you can continue this lecture."

With a groan, Tyler followed Josh out to his truck.

________

For a solid five minutes, Tyler shifted uncomfortable in the passenger seat. Squirming and readjusting his shirt every five seconds along with fixing his hair, he just couldn't sit still.

"Yo Tyler. You good?"

Josh smiled as he spared a quick glance at Tyler. The street light turned green and he refocused his eyes on the road.

"Is this shirt good enough? Isn't it weird to wear this to work? Does my hair have to be a certain way?"

Josh shrugged, "I’m kind of driving right now. Can't really analyze your attire & hairstyle right now, dude. I'm sure it's fine. We don't even have uniforms there. It's like the Hollister of cafes. It tries way too hard to appear carefree. Not giving us uniforms promotes that image in their opinion. I think the fact that you wore a button up shirt might be too formal to them."

"It's sorta Hawaiian? It has trees and flowers on it. That’s “cool” right?"

"Sounds pretty rad. I mean I'm showing up in a super old gray t-shirt."

"You're also still wet from your shower."

"That too. So I think you'll be fine."

Tyler let out a small laugh before he sighed as he attempted to sit still and relax. Even with Josh’s reassurance, he was still worried.  
_____  
  
Josh parked his truck in a spot marked ‘Employees Only.’ As the two got out of the truck, Tyler laughed as he noted,  
“Wow. You’re so cool. Your own parking space. What a big shot!”  
  
Josh rolled his eyes as they made their way into the cafe. Josh pulled the key out of his back pocket and unlocked the door, holding it open to let Tyler in first.  
  
“The manager should be coming in today. She’ll talk to you and I’m sure she can get you working here by today. So for now just sit tight I guess. Do you want tea or coffee or something?”  
  
“Oh, no thanks. I don’t have money.”  
  
“Man, it’s free. I’m an employee and you’ll be one too. So just tell me what you want.”

Tyler shrugged, still not being able to accept it. He walked up to the counter as Josh walked behind it and into a back room. Tyler stared up at the menu on the wall and pondered all of his options. What should have been a quick decision took Tyler a good fifteen to twenty minutes. In this time, Josh had put on the apron (the only ‘uniform’ they really offer there) and prepare everything for the day. In the end, Tyler ordered a medium green tea.

As he handed Tyler his drink, Josh asked him to turn the sign on the door so the big bright red capital letters ‘OPEN’ were displayed to the public.

Almost immediately there were 2 customers in the door as if they had been waiting in their cars for that exact moment when the cafe was officially open.

Tyler sort of understood the appeal of the place. It was really beautiful in the architecture and general atmosphere. It wasn’t as bad as Josh had described it in Tyler’s opinion. The whole place was made of a dark and pretty wood, the tables and chairs matching it. Accents of green and yellow and a few real plants (with real flowers) decorated the interior. Including the glass door and large windows that let in an incredible amount of light and it was a nice relaxing cafe.   
  
Tyler hadn’t realized it earlier but calm indie music played softly over speakers hidden by a few plants. He hadn’t realized how the time flied, how many customers came and went, until Josh’s voice caught his attention.   
  
“Tyler! This is our- well, _my_ manager.” Josh turned to face her. “I’ve been working here for a while now and yknow I’m a good employee. I would never bring in anyone I didn’t trust. So you knowing this, my good friend Tyler really needs a job. You look especially lovely today by the way.”   
  
She shot Josh a look of doubt, he knew flattery would get him nowhere with her but it was worth a shot. She then turned and began to scrutinize every single detail about Tyler. It seemed like she literally took hours to look at each pore on his skin and each stitch in his clothing until she got to his legs  & shoes. She then looked up at Tyler with a monotone face, staring him in the eye. He squirmed, forcing out a large smile decorated with two dimples. He felt it rude to break the eye contact but he swore if  his heart beat went any faster it might explode and maybe even some tears might start falling; But she finally turned to Josh, allowing a small modest smile to form on her face.   
  
“When can he start?”   
  
“Toda-” Josh began but was cut off when Tyler’s unusually confident voice chimed in,   
“Today, miss. I can start today.”   
  
Still facing Josh she responded, “He can shadow you for today but you realize you’ll be the one training him, right? And you’ll have to do that soon.”   
  
She smiled before she turned and left as quickly as she had shown up. Josh turned to Tyler, Tyler to Josh, and the two smiled at each other.   
  
“Congrats on the job,” Josh said as he shook Tyler’s hand, making both of them laugh.   
  
“I’m surprised I didn’t start crying or puking, or both. She’s kind of really scary. She seems nice though. Towards you at least.”   
  
Josh shrugged as he made his way to the back room again, beckoning Tyler to come with him since he was now allowed back there. On the wall hung a rack of a few aprons, one of which Josh then handed to Tyler as he responded.   
  
“She’s a pretty cool lady. I think she just scares people because she’s really pretty and very smart and she just really likes to scare newer employees. She’s super rad when you get to know her though. She’s actually kind of dorky, loves Deadpool a lot. Star Wars too. Maybe she’ll cut the whole ‘scary business lady’ act sometime and you can actually meet her.”   
  
Tyler nodded and smiled as he finished tying the back of his apron. Josh then led him to the front cashier station. There was two cash registers and one pick up station for orders that had been finished and were ready for customers. The same typical layout similar to Starbucks.   
  
Tyler wouldn’t admit it out loud (at least not at the moment) but he was very grateful for meeting Josh. Sure, he wasn’t doing anything incredibly stellar and amazing but in Tyler’s mind, housing a stranger, feeding him, and getting him a job was beyond just stellar. It was extremely generous of him.   
And Tyler hated it.   
In a way.

His parents treated him this way too. They treated him way too well. Did so much for him and he could never offer more than a simple million thank you’s. It was no different with Josh.   
  
He felt even less deserving with Josh actually. His parents had him, they chose to have kids and they got Tyler. No shocker there. They were kind of obligated to love him even if they didn’t actually feel that way. But of course they did. His parents were such great people. He always wondered how they could stand him.   
  
Which caused him to wonder how Josh could stand him. Josh didn’t choose him and he definitely didn’t ask for Tyler. Blurry just showed up and shoved himself into Josh’s life, dragging Tyler in with him. How he’d ever apologize for their rough introduction, he wasn’t sure. How he’d ever repay Josh for everything he’s done so far, he didn’t know that either. It seemed that as of late, Tyler had no clue what he’d do with his life in general.   
Josh seemed to have more of Tyler’s life figured out than Tyler did himself.   
  
Throughout the whole 2 and a half days they’d been around each other, Tyler constantly wondered how much more Josh could take. Josh constantly wondered how much more Tyler could keep doing this to himself.   
  
They both wondered what the hell their future would hold; Neither were ready for it.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter was sorta a filler and the next one may not have anything spectacular happen in it either. Sorry if the story progression is a little slow but I really wanna realistically time the progress of their relationship.  
> Besides that, I apologize again for the long wait. Let's hope chapter 5 doesn't take that long. You can find possible updates regarding my fic on my side blog ( blurryjace.tumblr.com ) and you can follow my main ( djspookyjace.tumblr.com ) for nonsense.  
> As always, comments/constructive criticism/kudos are always appreciated and do actually help me.  
> Stay stellar, friends.


	5. they tøld me I was gøne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys are slowly getting used to each other being around, as used to each other as they can get within a few days. But still, they don't know each other all that well and even all the talking they've done can't stop the awkward tension that arises.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this chapter has taken so long. More about why and some IMPORTANT stuff at the end chapter notes. For now please enjoy this. Any mistakes are my fault and I would be very appreciative if you pointed them out to me so i could fix them! Thank you and enjoy.

Lucky for Tyler, a vast majority of his first day wasn’t too laborious. It had been an oddly slow day which gave Josh the opportunity to show Tyler how to make a few drinks, how to clean the machines, and things of the like. For being part demon, Tyler’s people skills seemed to be generally well managed. _Generally._   
  
Towards lunchtime, a woman with six kids and a soccer mom haircut started giving him trouble and Josh was impressed with how long Tyler managed to keep his cool.

She made him remake the drinks a total of three times before he had to quickly excuse himself, claiming an early lunch break and rushing into the back room. Josh hurriedly took over and rushed to finish the lady’s order (again) of one large caramel frappe and six small hot chocolates - as if her kids needed any more sugar. She took one sip of each of the drinks she got and had an issue with only one hot chocolate that was _apparently_ not as chocolatey as the others. Josh had to force a cheerful grin when he apologized and remade the drink (for the fifth time) which was finally “good enough” for her. It took her about ten minutes to round up all her kids and get out of the store, another twenty for her to get them all into the car. Josh thanked God for letting her do all that without dropping the drinks.

He really did not want to remake all of those.  

Afterwards, the shop was relatively quiet. All the customers were seated at various tables, already served and content. Seeing the opportunity, Josh went to the back room to check on Tyler. 

He knocked lightly on the door, as to not draw any attention from the customers. When he was met with only silence and no protest, he quietly opened the door. Tyler was sat in the corner of the room on the floor, his back towards Josh. Propping the door open, Josh sighed.  
  
“Ty?”  
  
More silence. Tyler had a habit of going silent when he was upset. Josh made a small mental note of this but persisted. He approached Tyler cautiously, placing a hand on his shoulder.  
  
“Tyler, buddy. You okay?”  
  
Tyler let out a small huff, dropping his shoulders and lifting his head as he forced himself to relax. He blinked a few times to refocus his vision. He felt so dizzy, almost nauseous even. He tried to play it off, but he knew what was coming.

He hesitated before looking up at Josh as he stood, dusting himself off and offering a shaky smile.   
  
“Yeah, guess my people skills could use some work. But it’s fine.”

Josh nodded, still apprehensive, “Alright. Only four more hours left, dude. Able to keep working?”  
  
Tyler nodded and followed Josh out to the registers to finish their shifts.

 

* * *

 

Tyler sighed dramatically as he fell into the passenger seat of Josh’s truck. Josh laughed and sarcastically added, “Making drinks all day is so hard, I know.” 

Tyler smiled, “Sorry, didn’t mean to be dramatic. As tiring as it is, I’m grateful to have a job. Thanks for hooking me up, by the way.”  
  
“I wouldn’t thank me yet. Some shifts are even longer than this. Sometimes I start in the morning. Sometimes I have to take the night shift. Which means you’ll have to do that too, eventually.”

  
Tyler let out another groan as Josh started the car.

“But it also means we’ll both have money.”  
  
Tyler agreed, “Yeah, you’re right.”  
  
“Which means you won’t have to live with me forever.”   
  
Tyler froze for a second, dread taking over his entire being. He knew he couldn’t live with Josh forever, he knew that from the beginning, but something about hearing Josh say it made him nervous. Did Josh see him as a burden? Was Josh counting down the days until he could have his apartment back to himself? Tyler realized he’d stayed quiet oddly long and forced a smile out as he restated his agreement. Josh just figured Tyler was tired and didn’t think much of it.

They didn't talk for the rest of the drive, letting the radio fill the empty space.

* * *

 

As soon as they entered the apartment, Tyler lay down on the couch, suppressing another groan. He was truly happy to have a job but there were just two issues;

  1. He wasn’t used to having a job and although happy to work, it left him quite tired.
  2. He couldn’t stop thinking about what Josh said earlier. The sooner he gets enough money, the sooner he has to leave.



Tyler’s eyes were squeezed shut and his mind never paused until Josh called his name from down the hall. He shot up, thinking something was wrong, but relaxed when Josh walked into the kitchen and continued.  
  
“We can get take out again or I can try and cook something?”  
  
He said it was if it were a question rather than a statement. Tyler forced himself up and sauntered into the kitchen. Once he came to lean in the doorway of the kitchen, he just shrugged sleepily.   
  
“Okay but if you barf from how bad my cooking is, don’t be angry with me. Remember you gave me your _‘I’m-Tyler-Joseph-And-I’m-Too-Cool-To-Care’_ shrug, alright?” 

He shook his head, laughing. “I’ve had your cooking before and it was good. Really good actually so I’m not too worried.”  
  
“Not too worried? So there is still some doubt? Thanks, man. Thanks for having such strong faith in me.”  
  
“Even if I do puke, it wouldn’t be the first time.”  
  
Tyler said it jokingly but Josh’s smile faltered for just a second. Tyler wasn’t sure if he had really seen it because it was gone as quickly as it came, but the tense air in the room told him something was off regardless. Trying to recover from ruining the good vibe they had going, he spoke as he pulled out a chair and sat at the table.   
  
“Can I ask you something?”  
  
Josh let out a small mhmm as he rummaged through his fridge.

“Can you tell me more about your whole deal with people- well, things similar to me?”  
  
“Like what I do for them? Wanna know more about the history of **_The Ghost Whisper: Joshua William Dun_ ** ? ”   
  
Tyler nodded and laughed when Josh said it in a deep dramatic voice. Josh looked over at Tyler and smiled before he began.  
  
“It’s kinda cliche but it started when I was super young. When someone passed away in my family, I just always seemed to have something to say about them. I told everyone I saw them, and asked how they were doing and just sort of hung out with them. And at first, my family just assumed it was my imagination because I missed that person so they let me continue. I guess they thought it was my way of coping. But soon it became people I didn’t know. People like my mum’s friend’s sister’s fiance would pass away and I would tell her their full name and would relay any message they had for those they left behind. I did all this even if I didn’t know my mum’s friend or her sister. And it just sorta continued from there.”  
  
Tyler nodded, running his fingers over the three lines tattooed onto his left wrist.   
“Didn’t that make things hard with friends? Did they ever get bothered by it?”  
  
Josh reached for one of the smaller knives but his fingers hesitated over it. That had been the knife that Blurry used. He opted for another knife as he tried to calm himself down. He almost forgot Tyler had asked him a question and stuttered as he attempted to respond.

“Uh yeah. I-I mean friends were decently easy to make. I was a quiet kid but I was sociable enough and people seemed to like me. The hard part was _keeping_ friends. I guess as a kid I didn’t understand social cues so when I talked about their dead relatives some kids started crying, others just told me I was weird. I didn’t get the hint that maybe I should shut up so I got beat up once or twice. But it was okay. I had a couple of good friends and if they weren’t around, I had all these ghosts to keep me company. That was only ever really the problem in elementary and middle school. Being in high school I finally learned to keep it to myself but dealing with all of that on my own was sorta hard. I’d eventually tell the people I dated or anyone I got close to, I told them when I thought I could trust them and thought they wouldn’t leave but here we are now. Any relationships I had sort of just didn’t last. They all ended the same way. It sucked. Being alone and dealing with everything by myself. That’s why when I found a sort of passion for music, I felt better. That’s why I’ve kept the piano in here. I can’t play it but I like to keep it around.”  
  
Josh cleared his throat as he suddenly realized he had said a lot. Tyler hadn’t noticed as he was thinking of something to say.

“Well instead of sneaking up on me while playing the piano, I could play it for you.” Tyler smiled and continued, “That’s a really dumb reason to leave someone. You can’t help all this, it’s not like you exactly chose to be the guy who sees spirits. Just like I’m not the guy who chose to be half demon. It’s stupid to be upset with someone for something they can’t control. It’s not fair.... I just don’t-” Tyler stopped, realizing he was raising his voice. “Sorry, it just really bothers me. Uh, anyway….how do you deal with it now?”  
  
“I don’t. Well, I do. But I just don’t tell anyone about it now. My family doesn’t even know that it still exists. And honestly, since you showed up there’s been nothing here. No ghosts.”  
  
“Really?”  
  
“Yeah. Can’t you see them, considering you are part demon?”  
  
“Well, sort of. I can kinda feel it but usually, I think it’s just me tricking myself into feeling it. But I haven’t felt it here. Which is weird.”   
  
Josh nodded once more, continuing as he turned to grab a pan out of his cupboard. He placed it on the stove, put a portion of butter into it, turned on the flame, and let it melt.

“Yeah, it’s like you’ve scared them all away. I kind of appreciate it honestly. It’s the first time I’ve sorta gotten a break from it. It's the first time I’ve had some peace and quiet. I mean you are here but you are also part human so it’s not terrible. If that makes sense. Not that you are bad at all, Blurry is just sort of. Hard to get used to.”  
  
“I can’t say I’m a big fan of him myself and I really can’t blame you because you had one of the worst introductions to him. Which I can never apologize enough for but as much of a hassle as he is, he is still a part of me. A part I could live without. I know he’s there but every time he takes over, I can’t remember what he did.”  
  
“If you don’t mind, can I ask about him some more?”  
  
Tyler nervously nodded as Josh continued.

“What’s up with the black hands and neck? Is it paint or is it some demon thing?”  
  
“It’s both. It’s a demon thing because when Blurry takes over, his hands & neck naturally turn black. But we sort of worked out a thing where he paints over it as well for a couple reasons. So just in case we scare anyone, he can play it off and quickly get out of there. Another reason being so that I know he’s been here. I usually know anyway since a big chunk of my memory is missing but coming to and being covered in black paint is a sure sign he’s been here.”  
  
Josh nodded, acknowledging that it was a pretty good system they had going. He was thinking about it and with this knowledge, everything he’d experienced now made sense. The first day Josh really met Tyler, Tyler asked how he ended up at his house. He remembered he let Blurry take a shower and that must have washed off the black paint so when Tyler woke up, he must have been a bit scared. Waking up in a stranger's house at seemingly no fault of Blurry would kind of pin the blame on the stranger. Had Josh not been so kind, Tyler might have thought he’d been kidnapped. But what kidnapper feeds someone and gets them a job?

“How does that work with other people? People who don’t know about Blurry?”  
  
Tyler shrugged, “It doesn’t work. Usually, Blurry can handle himself well enough but if it happens, we just sort of. Run away and never talk to them again.”  
  
“Sounds hard,” Josh commented with his back turned to Tyler, as he continued cooking.  
  
“It is. I’ve lost contact with many good friends because of it. But it’s better then me staying and letting them treat me like a some carnival side show freak attraction.”  
  
Josh laughed bitterly, “I know that feeling. So what about the red eyes? Demon eyes or contacts?”  
  
“Demon eyes.”

“Short answer for that one.”

“Well, we figured the black paint was enough. Plus contacts are more expensive than some body paint.”

“True. Also, you don’t remember what Blurry does but does he remember what you do?”

Tyler grumbled, “Yeah, as unfair as that is.

Josh went quiet for a while as he finished the food. He rushed to grab two plates and served Tyler his food. Tyler smiled down at it.

“Grilled cheese? Josh, this is fancy stuff right here. What are you studying in college, culinary arts?”

Josh shrugged, smiling as he rushed to get his own grilled cheese before he burnt it. He turned off the flame and returned to the table to set down his plate. He walked back to his fridge and turned to ask Tyler.   
  
“Red bull or something else?”   
  
“Something else meaning….?”   
  
“Water.”

There was a pause as Tyler waited for Josh to continue. Upon realizing Josh was done, Tyler put on his best smile and said in a tone with almost undetectable sarcasm and complete genuine amazement,  
“Wow, what incredible options! However will I choose just one?!”

“Okay, fine. For being a jerk, you’re getting water.”

Josh pulled two water bottles out and took a seat at the table after he set them down. They ate in silence for a while, a silence that wasn't exactly dreadful but was teetering on the edge of almost comfortable. Once more, Josh broke the silence as millions of questions in his mind impatiently waited to be asked.

“What about you? How was your childhood and making friends?”

 Tyler thought about it for a moment,

“My childhood was good actually. I had a lot of friends, great people. Met a lot of them through basketball since I played for my school team. I used to actually be really good. My mum thought I was going to be in the NBA when I got older and for a while, I thought I was going to be too. But I sort of started getting into music more and I moved out here to pursue it. But you see how that went. I don't have any friends out here. I don't keep in contact with anyone from high school. They sort of all disappeared afterwards. I can't be angry or blame them, I'm the one who left Ohio, my home, my family and everything I knew behind out of nowhere.”

Josh kept eating as he listened to Tyler talk. He stared at Tyler, who kept his eyes on his plate.

“But the homeless people here tend to be very nice and have let me stay with them from time to time.”

Neither Tyler nor Josh had expected to get this deep over a couple of grilled cheeses but here they were. Josh’s mind raced and desperately tried to find anything to keep the conversation going without getting too depressing.

“Ohio? I’m from Ohio too. Specifically Columbus.”  
  
“Me too actually! Columbus is a nice place if you like isolated places where nothing really happens. The people there are definitely unique.”

Josh nodded and laughed, he knew his all this all too well. He wanted to stay in this happy nostalgic tone but he couldn’t. He had been trying to avoid it, the obvious topic that begged for their attention.

“Columbus must have treated you well. Probably better than LA. I mean I’ll have to take your word for it, the homeless people do seem very kind. Uh, I can’t really imagine how hard that must have been. How did you deal with Blurry when you didn’t have a place to stay?”  
  
“I mean the homeless people are nice but a lot of them aren’t the sanest so a boy with black arms and a black neck doesn’t bother them. But admittedly, it is much nicer to deal with in the privacy of a home.”  
  
The two boys went quiet as they finished their food. Josh politely stood up and took their plates to the sink, where he washed everything and began putting dishes away. Tyler got up to help him and their conversation picked up where it had left off.  
  
“How about your friends? Did they ever see Blurry?”  
  
“Unfortunately.”  
  
“How’d that go?”  
  
Tyler suppressed a sigh, he really did not want to talk about this but he figured it was only fair after Josh had told him so much. 

“It was pretty bad. I mean it didn’t come out of nowhere, it was a slow progressive sort of thing. I started noticing him more and more and I made the extra effort to not be around my friends when I felt episodes coming on. But I could only hide it for so long. He hid so well that I didn’t even know he was coming until all of a sudden he just happened. I don’t remember what he did but it was enough to make them hate me. Well, they were scared of me more so. Which sucks because they’d been my friends for years and they were the people I had gotten the closest to but I can’t blame them for leaving. Seeing your friend go all demon on you is a fair reason to not want to be around them.”

“I don’t think so.”  
  
Tyler looked at Josh apprehensively. It didn’t make sense. Josh had met Blurry, he had encountered a more tame Blurry if anything. It still baffled Tyler that Josh had stuck around. After being tortured by Blurry, he expected  his friends to leave him but Josh thought otherwise. Tyler’s confused expression prompted Josh to continue.   
  
“Just like you said, I didn’t ask to be the kid who talks to spirits. You didn’t ask to be half demon. We can’t control it. It’s not fair to for them to leave like that without giving you a chance to explain.”  
  
Tyler shrugged, “I’m surprised you didn’t kick me out right away honestly. I wouldn’t have blamed you either. They didn’t want to hear my reasoning. They were convinced I was the devil himself. Weren’t you convinced of the same thing just a few days ago?”  
  
He immediately shook his head. Josh was used to things like this. Sure, maybe not used to watching normal looking humans stabbing their hand but used to paranormal stuff. He wasn’t pissed at Tyler’s friends for leaving him immediately, he was irritated that not a single one of them came back or even tried to hear him out. Josh continued to put dishes back in their rightful place, trying to keep any bitter remarks about Tyler’s old friends to himself.   
  
“Look, Josh,” Tyler’s voice shook as he tried to sound calm, “I can tell when one of Blurry’s episodes is going to happen. I know one is going to happen soon and I-”  
  
“Is that what happened today?”  
  
Tyler froze but only for a moment. No one had really ever caught onto that surprisingly. Or they did and never vocally commented on it. Then again, Tyler never hung around anyone long after they discovered Blurry so they never had a chance to connect his anger issues to Blurry. He kept talking as if Josh hadn’t commented.   
  
“Another episode is going to happen soon and I don’t know when. I could wake up tomorrow morning as Blurry or I could be at work and just lose it. I just thought maybe I’d forewarn you.”   
  
It was a nice sentiment but the warning just made Josh more nervous. He continued to put plates away with Tyler until they were both done. They turned and stared at each other for a moment before Tyler excused himself and went out to sit on the couch. He struggled to get comfortable for a moment but he finally settled in a spot and reached for the remote. He flicked on the tv, channel surfing for a bit. Truly he wasn’t paying attention to the tv so much as he was just trying to calm down. He’d never really opened up to someone that much, let alone that quickly.

Meanwhile, Josh stood in the kitchen for a few minutes, trying to gather his own thoughts for the same reason. He figured they were even since he’d disclosed so much information to Tyler and Tyler disclosed just as much to him, it was okay. If only Josh had truly believed this sentiment, then he’d feel okay. Instead, he felt his heartbeat throughout his whole body and the sound itself was causing him to panic more.

He finally exited the kitchen and walked down the hall, rushing to get to his bathroom. He slammed the door behind him, causing Tyler to look back and down the hall. Tyler sat on the couch, guilt consuming him. The apartment held an awkward air that the two could both feel.

Josh tried to calm down and drown out the sound of his heart with the sound of the shower. He tried to focus on the warm water hitting his back but as he began to drown out the sound of his heart, he began to feel it instead. He felt his blood coursing through his body and his heartbeat seemed to only grow more intense.

Josh felt the panic in the pit of his stomach but it wasn’t the typical anxiety attack. It was the kind of attack that wasn’t that visible to anyone who didn’t know Josh well. It was Josh zoning out and instead of breaking down outwardly, any damage being done was all internal. His mind raced and his head hurt but his hands never shook and his breathing barely changed. He stood in the shower like this for almost half an hour before he snapped out of it. The “calm” panic attacks were always the worst to him. It was irritating to feel like he had just sobbed his heart out when all he did was stand there.

He turned off the water and grabbed the towel, not bothering to dry himself off. He opened the door quietly, peeking out to see if Tyler was still out there.Tyler had laid down and was dozing off when he heard Josh’s footsteps coming closer. He didn’t bother to sit up or even make any sign of him being awake. Josh sighed as he leaned over Tyler (who he assumed was asleep) and grabbed the remote, shutting off the tv. Josh turned off the rest of the lights before he walked into his room, locking the door behind him.   
  
Tyler stared at Josh as he left, hearing the lock click made his heart drop for some reason. Sure, they’d only known each other for a few days but they’d gotten fairly close and Tyler thought Josh could trust him enough to the point where he no longer had to lock his door. Tyler didn’t know Josh thought the same but with the warning of Blurry and with the tense feeling in the apartment, Josh instinctively locked his door before he got dressed and went to bed.  
  
Tyler had fallen asleep fairly quickly too but his sleep didn’t offer him any peace. Again, tormented by nightmares he kept waking up throughout the night until he gave up. He stood up and made his way to the cabinets in the hall, rummaging through his stuff until he found his songbook again. He took the pen out and opened to a new fresh page. As the tip of the pen rested on the page, it took Tyler a moment before it seemed that his ideas just began flowing as quickly as he could write. He didn’t know how long he’d been awake or how many times he’d rewritten the song but his fatigue convinced him to lay down and continue working on his song. Within minutes, his pen began to falter. The letters became scribbles and he fell asleep with the book resting on his chest and his pen still in hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU FOR READING!! I took forever updating this because I was so busy with school work (homework, projects), choir concerts, and finals tests. I'm done with school for right now but will have summer school later so I'm not totally free. I also have the twenty one pilots concert coming up very soon and I cannot wait. As for my important stuff I mentioned, I am afraid to tell you guys that the next update might take even longer for the reasons already listed but also because I am thinking I want to write multiple chapters and then post those periodically as opposed to writing them one at a time. That means you will get about 2-3 chapters faster but with longer intervals in between. However, if you are opposed to that then please do comment and tell me!!  
> As always, I appreciate kudos and I ADORE comments so make sure to leave some of those. I am very sorry once again but you can follow my side blog ( blurryjace.tumblr.com ) for updates and more top content. or my main ( djspookyjace.tumblr.com ) which is on hiatus right now due to some cleaning up I am doing on it.  
> Thanks & stay stellar, lovelies.


	6. feel my cønscience wearing thin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh's anxiety was getting worse after Tyler's warning but he tried to go about his day as normal as possible and it was working. Well, it was working up until Josh returned to his apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is shorter than the last but if I kept writing it would have been too long so I guess this is more so a half chapter. Regardless I hope you enjoy!! shoutout to my buddy V who helped me edit the first half of this chapter and gave me many ideas.

Every night was laborious. Last night was no different when Tyler struggled to fall asleep, but eventually did and usually slept through the night. Josh, on the other hand, had drifted off easily, only to wake sporadically throughout the night.

That is if he even slept at all.

He awoke sometime in the early morning but opted to stay in bed; images of blood-red eyes and grasping black hands floated behind his eyelids. He didn’t want to admit it to himself but he was afraid of going out there and being greeted by Blurry instead of Tyler. He stayed in bed for what felt like years but was only a few hours. At around eight, he rolled out of bed, smacking his head on his bedside table. He had missed enough days of his college courses and needed to go back at some point.

He sighed and kicked his blankets off of him before he got out of bed. Reaching his arms above his head, he stood on his tip-toes as he stretched. His tank top drifted up to reveal a line of toned muscle and as the colder morning air hit his bare skin, he shivered and dropped his arms back down to his sides. When he unlocked and opened his door, he took a moment to peek out to see if Tyler was still there and still himself. Josh mentally berated himself for acting like a child, but after his first interaction with Blurry, he couldn’t blame himself for being a little paranoid.

The soft sound of Tyler's steady breathing reached his ears as he shuffled down the hallway. Josh approached the couch Tyler was sacked out on, studying the book that laid on Tyler's chest. He eased it out of Tyler's hands and considered going through its contents for a moment. While his curiosity begged to be appeased, he was uncomfortable invading Tyler's privacy like that. Especially after last night. He carefully closed the book and placed it on the end table, along with the pen Tyler had clenched in one small, hardly intimidating, fist.

Josh felt his anxiety slowly increasing as he worried that Tyler would wake up and open his eyes only to reveal they were red and it wasn’t Tyler at all, but Blurry. Josh mentally belittled himself for being so childish yet again. He'd just touched and seen Tyler's hands which were perfectly natural-coloured at the moment.

No signs of Blurry. Not yet.

He glanced over Tyler once more to make sure he was okay before he went to his bathroom to do his typical morning routine. Which was the bare minimum of at least brushing his teeth, washing his face, and putting on deodorant. If he felt like it, sometimes he’d maybe even fix his hair but today was a hat day. Almost every day was a hat day truthfully.

A slightly too loud groan escaped his mouth as he went over his schedule for the day. He had a few classes today before he would have to go to work a short shift at work later. Unfortunately, he had a decent amount of school work to do. Any “free time” he had thanks to his short work day would be dedicated to catching up in an attempt to not fail these classes he had struggled to pay for in the first place. He figured if he was smart about it, he’d have time to come home, check on Tyler, then go to work after. If he did that, that also meant Tyler could come to and get more hours. If he wanted to be on schedule he’d have to leave within the next 5 minutes.

Upon realizing this, he rushed to his room to get dressed not bothering to close his door. He struggled to tug on his t-shirt and quickly pull on his typical dark jeans along with a black cap. He grabbed a pair of shoes at random, hoping they matched well enough. He grabbed his keys, his phone, a jacket and his bag before hurriedly rushing out the door.

Upon hearing the door closing, Tyler sleepily opened his eyes and turned his back to the sun that was pouring into the room. He had been in that weird stage where he wasn’t awake but he wasn’t asleep. He could hear everything happening and could feel everything but his eyes refused to open and his body refused to respond. He had mustered up enough energy to finally sit up after Josh left, it sounded like the other was in a rush and Tyler didn’t want to delay him any further.

Tyler forced himself to sit up, letting out a small groan. His whole body screamed in pain. His head was tortured by a migraine, his limbs felt sore, his stomach hurt, his face felt puffy. He felt as if he had caught every illness imaginable. Sometimes he’d feel like this when Blurry was coming but it rarely this bad. Usually, it meant Blurry would have more control than usual. The thought alone scared Tyler.

He rubbed his temples as he attempted to move slowly off of the couch. He wasn’t the biggest fan of taking medication, but at this point, he was in desperate need of some pain killers. While he wanted to respect Josh and his home and normally wouldn’t go rummaging through other’s things, he truly was in _desperate_ need.

When he stood up just a bit too quickly, the room began to spin and Tyler struggled to walk without falling. He leaned up against the wall for a few seconds before he decided he’d use it for support the rest of the way to the bathroom.

Tyler let his aching body sag against the door before it gave way and he stumbled into the bathroom. He caught himself on the counter, swaying as he tried to focus on something, anything. Tyler stared at his hands, blinking until the multiples disappeared. He took a deep breath, steadying himself. He reached for the medicine cabinet, but his hands refused to move. He blinked down at them in confusion, then watched, horrified, as inky black spread from the cuffs of his borrowed shirt. He met his own frightened eyes in the mirror, unable to move as the too-familiar red bled out from his pupils. Using the last of his strength, Tyler jerked back, hitting his head on the wall as he fell, and everything went black.

* * *

 

After trudging through a few classes, the image of Josh’s bed was tantalizing. It wasn’t as the day was terrible. It was far from actually but school would always be exhausting.

After sitting through a few boring lectures and acing a test he hadn’t studied for, Josh grabbed celebratory take-out from Taco Bell, and went home, excited to tell Tyler about his day.

He hurried home, wincing at the grating sound of the key in the front door. Balancing the Taco Bell bag in one hand and pushing the door open with the other, Josh smiled to himself before calling out to Tyler.

“Yo, Ty!”

His voice echoed slightly throughout his apartment and when his greeting was met with silence, his smile faded a bit. He yelled again as he pushed the door closed with his foot.  
  
“I bought Taco Bell! Lots of it.”

When he got no response, he dropped the food on the kitchen table and went to find Tyler.

Josh ran over the list of possible reasons why Tyler wasn’t downing a few tacos right at that moment. He could be taking a nap, although not on the couch. Possibly in his room.

Taking a moment to check proved that idea wrong and thus onto the next possibility.

He could be taking a shower. Except the water wasn’t on and there was no noise at all coming from the bathroom. Although, he could be using the bathroom. No way to test this theory without feeling slightly awkward. Josh could knock but figured he’d wait to see if that was true.

Tyler could have left to go do something. Not work. Maybe school? Maybe just get out of the house. Buses do exist but Josh didn’t know if Tyler had any money. Then again, he did have legs and walking was free.

Tyler could have left for all Josh knew. Tyler was a capable adult but for some reason, the idea of him just up and leaving absolutely terrified Josh. He brought his attention the cupboards in the hall and opened them to see all of Tyler’s things still crammed in there. He sighed in relief. Minimal relief. God only knew where Tyler was or if he was even still Tyler.

“Okay,” Josh attempted to vocally console himself quietly, “Give it a solid 10 minutes. If he doesn’t show up, search the apartment. If he isn’t here, I need a plan. Okay. Need a plan, need a plan. Call the police….that’s too much. Call him?...Don’t know if I can. We need to get him a phone or a pager or a tracking device. Something. Okay, think. Need a plan. A real plausible plan.”  
  
To some people, this scene would be odd. A grown man almost frantically talking to himself as he paced in his living room but talking to himself wasn’t new to Josh. It helped him focus sometimes and right now he really needed to figure out what was going on. Also considering he spoke to spirits that others couldn't see, it looked like he was talking to himself half of the time anyway.

He went to his kitchen and sat at the table for the 10 minutes, staring at the analog clock on his wall as he resisted his urge to bite his nails. As soon as the exactly 10 minutes had passed, he stopped tapping his fingers against the wooden table and jumped up out of his chair to begin searching the apartment.

He headed towards the bathroom, the one place he hadn’t checked. He cleared his throat before lightly tapping his knuckles on the door. His meek voice forced itself out.  
  
“Tyler? You in there?”  
  
It was a few seconds before Josh thought he heard a small groan. It was barely audible. Josh wasn’t sure if he had imagined it or not so he asked again. This time, the “groan” was clearer but obviously forced. It wasn’t a groan but was Tyler’s attempt at a sentence. All his words came out quickly and were slightly slurred together. If Josh wasn’t nervous before, he was now. Without hesitating any longer, he opened the door to see Tyler huddled in the corner of the bathroom. Frantic quick murmurs still spilt from his mouth with his face hidden in his knees, his back to Josh.

Josh wanted to freeze up, his panic was on the verge of getting the best of him. He staved it off for that moment. Tyler was more important than Josh’s own anxieties right now.

But oh god, he had no clue what to do. His voice shook (regardless of how much he willed it not to) as he tried to assess the situation.

“Tyler, a-are you okay? What’s wrong?”  
  
More frantic murmurs. Josh could only catch a few words but nothing was piecing together. He begged, “I don’t understand. Tyler, please slow down.”  
  
Tyler’s body shook as he let out a weak sigh. It didn’t help that he was curled into himself, his hands seemingly held in the tight space between his chest and his knees, his face buried in a similar way. In the position he was in, his already strangled words were being muffled as well. Tyler knew this and took the every ounce of his energy to force out a few words into somewhat of a sentence.  
  
“Tried to s-stop. Tried. Can’t. No control.”

Growing increasingly worried by the second, he went to kneel down closer to Tyler. He tried to relay Tyler’s broken sentences as full ones to see if he was understanding correctly.  
  
“What did you try to stop?” Josh’s voice shook despite his best efforts to sound as calm.  
  
Tyler shook his head as he tried to speak, “Bl-Blur…,” Tyler struggled for enough air to continue trying to explain this to Josh but couldn’t do it. It was okay though. Josh understood as soon as Tyler could manage the word blur for him.  
  
“It’s okay if you can’t stop him, Tyler. It’s okay.”  
  
“D-Don’t want this.”  
  
“I don’t know how to- or if I even can stop him. But it’s okay, Tyler. I can deal with him. I can handle it.”  
  
“No. Don’t want. You. Hurt.” Tyler forced out the string of words before he gasped in an attempt to finish his thought, “Go. Leave..... P-Pleas-”  
  
Tyler’s strained voice suddenly stopped, along with his shaking body. Everything seemed so still and quiet. Josh was worried that maybe Tyler was on the verge of passing out. But a calm smooth voice soon proved otherwise.  
  
“Did you miss me, Joshua?” 

Upon realizing exactly what had just happened, Josh shot up and backed away from Blurry. Almost disgusted by his arrival.

The person who was Tyler seconds ago rolled his neck and his shoulders back before he stood up and turned to smile at Josh. As those dreaded red eyes met Josh’s, the demon smirked. And Josh’s stomach dropped.

He had been paranoid since Tyler had warned him but it seemed just as he was calming down, It happened. And he was anything but prepared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. I was going to start piling up chapters as I wrote them and then posting them in bulk but I think that's too difficult and I have no self control so it looks like I am ditching that idea. However I will be updating this fic AND the Heathens one so be on the look out for the Heathens one to update next as I think i will be uploading like that (in an alternating way). So since this updated, Heathens will now have my attention and after that updates this will have my attention and so on and so forth.  
> Anyway all mistakes made in this chapter are mine and if you notice them, would you be so kind as to comment and point them out to me so I can fix them? Also you can comment and give me your thoughts on this chapter if you are feeling extra kind! Kudos and comments are always appreciated.  
> Thank you for reading and putting up with my terrible uploading schedule and remember to stay stellar, friends!


	7. will they be alive tømørrøw?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Put simply, Blurry was an asshole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe the title is a bit of spoiler for this chapters ending but oh well. it was too perfect to pass up. Also, Lane Boy is just a great song so I have no qualms. Also the chapter summary is one of my favourite lines from this chapter.  
> I am so sorry this chapter took so long I just had such a tough time with it. I'm not too pleased with this final product but it's the best I could get it. I really hope you guys aren't too mad at me for taking so long. Any mistakes are all mine and if you could point em out to me so I can fix them, that'd be stellar! Thanks for reading!

The unearthly fearlessness in the other boy’s eyes made Josh’s stomach churn. He tried to fight off the nausea building in his stomach but as their gazes met, he only felt worse. He glared at what used to be Tyler just a few seconds ago.

Witnessing the drastic change from Tyler to Blurry sent chills throughout Josh’s body.

Physically, there was very little differences between the two. Any other person would have to see the blackened skin and vermillion eyes to know it wasn’t Tyler anymore. But to Josh, there were other signs. His experience had shown him demons weren’t always obviously inhuman. In fact, they rarely were. Most of the time, it was the smallest differences that gave it away. Tyler was no different. The most troubling, at least to Josh, was the difference in the way they smiled. Within the few days they had been around each other, Josh had become aware of Tyler’s little idiosyncrasies. Things like when Tyler genuinely smiled, his cheeks lifted causing his eyes to squint and he beamed. It was a type of joy that a demon was incapable of feeling. That’s why Blurry’s grimace was was so bone-chilling; it was a sick, twisted sneer that induced gut-wrenching anxiety despite being decorated by the same dimples. 

Although truth be told, the physical changes weren’t major enough to truly bother Josh. The minuscule difference was unsettling, as was the change between the personalities but Josh had witnessed similar things before. The contrast between a person and a demon would always be difficult to grasp but it wasn’t anything new to him.

What bothered Josh the most was the vast difference between his feelings towards the two personalities.

Although still a very new presence in his life, Josh loved Tyler bc hes gay ok!!!! He had even dared to consider Tyler a friend already. It had only been a few days they’d spent together but within that time span, the two had gotten a general feel for the other’s personality. They treated each other as equals; something both of them were not used to. Tyler needed Josh to teach him how to control Blurry. Josh was happy to be needed. It gave him a sense of purpose. Even if he hadn’t had that, he was just happy to have a real live person to talk to for once.

The same could not be said about Blurry. His first impression with Josh was enough to form quite a strong opinion. Who he was was clear from day one. Although he had a sliver of empathy somewhere in him, it paled in comparison to the rest of his personality. _Put simply, Blurry was an asshole._

“I’ve missed you so much.” Blurry cooed, breaking the silence along with Josh’s train of thought. 

Preparing to deal with Blurry was similar to preparing to babysit an extremely bratty child. Although the thought was partially a joke, it made Josh consider the possibility that maybe demons worked like kids. Stop giving them attention, maybe they’ll stop throwing a tantrum.

Or maybe they'll throw a bigger tantrum? Well if they’re kids, what if he would just want to watch Barney or Lazy Town. Maybe his favourite would be Dora. Wait….Do demons like Dora?

It was a notion he was willing to test but not at that very second. He couldn’t do it now.  Something else had caught his attention. He had noticed Blurry’s voice was audibly different from Tyler’s. Not just the tone of it but the actual quality and pitch.

The thing was whether he was talking or singing, Tyler’s voice seemed to float. Josh had this notion that even if Ty screamed and yelled, his voice would never cease to be melodic in some way. But even though it only differed in pitch, Blurry’s voice held none of the same qualities. Rather it was the complete opposite. The demon’s smile and the honeyed words he spoke dripped with forced charm, making his voice annoyingly tuneless to Josh. 

A minuscule difference. Something easy to miss if someone was lucky enough to speak Blurry only once. But Josh never considered himself particularly lucky and that was only further validated with every passing second Blurry stood there, grinning at him.

Anything that made Blurry less like Tyler was a blessing but this? This just wasn’t enough. He wanted more than an altered pitch. He wanted something more obvious and tangible. He huffed out of amusement as he envisioned a grotesque demon roaming around his apartment. What if Blurry had bumpy grey skin, arms that were too long and made his knuckles drag against the floor, with a severe underbite and crooked teeth? Would Josh prefer that?    
As terrifying as that would be, at least it’d stop him from looking as good as he does-

Josh froze.   


He almost didn’t believe himself. Had he really just thought this total stranger and his unstable demon-self was attractive? He would have began to chastise himself for it but he didn’t have a chance to before Blurry continued.

 

“No hello? That’s rude.”

 

Josh didn’t even have to look back at the demon trailing behind him to know that there was an obnoxious frown plastered on his face. 

“I don’t greet vermin.”

 

Blurry sucked his teeth, creating an audible hiss as he pretended to be hurt by the response he got. “Ouch. That really hurts, Joshua. Didn’t anyone ever teach you any hospitality?”

 

He decided he didn’t want to feed into whatever game Blurry was trying to play. That’s when his prior notion came back to mind; Ignore him and he’ll stop, just like kids do. Repeating that mantra in his head, Josh turned and walked down the hallway back to the kitchen. He opened the large bag of greasy fast food he’d left on the table, his stomach let out an agonized growl.

It was quiet as he continued digging through the food he bought. For a second, he thought maybe Blurry got the hint and was going to leave him alone but that wishful thinking didn’t last long. His anxiety spiked when footsteps padded across his apartment. Too scared to fully turn around, he glanced over his shoulder expecting to see that sardonic smile. A sigh of relief had barely began to form but never got the chance to finish when Blurry spoke again.

 

“Looking for me?”

 

He whipped around to see Blurry in the kitchen entrance closest to the front door, leaning against the doorframe. Placing a small container of black paint onto the counter, he rubbed two fingers into it and began smearing it on his arms and hands. Josh couldn’t be bothered to babysit all night and prioritized Taco Bell over a demon finger painting himself.

Ignoring Blurry was proving to be harder than he’d initially thought. Just taking his eyes off of Blurry for such an extended period of time made his worry grow but he wouldn’t show it. Stealing another glance over his shoulder before he sat down, all Josh saw was an empty kitchen. Finally. He looked back down at his food and had only begun to unwrap his burrito when he was interrupted yet again.

 

“Ooh, looks good.”

 

Blackened fingers reached for the wrinkled paper bag but it was pulled out of his reach. Josh scowled at the demon, his knuckles white as he held the bag close.

 

“It’s for Tyler.”

 

“This is still his body, yknow? We are awfully hungry, Joshua.”

 

“He can eat when he comes back.”

 

His eyebrows knitted together as his lower lip fell into a dramatic pout and he begged,“Pretty please?”

 

Refusing to respond anymore, Josh raked his hand through his fading red hair as he internally scolded himself for giving the other more attention. As if that’s what he needed.   
  
In Josh’s defense, it was more difficult than he had first anticipated but still, it wasn’t impossible. He knew he was capable of doing it. Refusing to meet those dreadful eyes, Josh ended up focusing on the darkly painted hands instead. The patchy color, the careless smears, the small clumps collected under his fingernails and in the creases of his hands.

After a few minutes spent wondering what the hell was more important than him, Blurry got it. He thought Josh was just zoning out to ignore him but he couldn't be happier when he figured out that he was wrong. Blurry smiled and now understanding what was happening, he began moving his hands more deliberately. He stroked the three lines tattooed on his left wrist, slowly tracing them again and again. 

His fingers wrapped around the top of the chair one at a time before he pulled it out. Faint black fingerprints were left behind after his hand lifted away causing Josh to grimace at the marks for a second. But the look was gone as quick as it had appeared. Seeing him trying to act apathetic caused a poorly hidden giggle from across the table. He almost made the same face again but he reminded himself of what he’d set out to do.

 

**_Ignore him. He’ll get bored and he’ll stop. Just need to ignore him._ **

 

They made a mutual spectacle of it all. Blurry watched Josh watching him. Neither one of them taking their eyes off of the other. The only difference being Blurry was loving it. He liked to test his limits. Josh, however, wasn’t too fond of it.

Blurry slowly lowered himself down into the chair across the table, resting his chin in his palm. Putting his hands right under his face left Josh with no choice but to finally meet the other’s gaze. Upon getting what he wanted, Blurry’s smile widened.    
  
“Good. I knew you couldn’t keep that up forever.”

 

**_STOP LOOKING. DON’T TALK TO HIM. STOP GIVING HIM ATTENTION. STOP LOOKING._ **

**_IGNORE. IGNORE. IGNORE. IGNORE._ **

 

He thought he had won already. Josh had made eye contact with him, acknowledging that Blurry was physically there. But he still wasn’t talking to him? 

When met with silence, Blurry tried to hide his growing frustration but it was evident in his voice.

“I know what you’re doing and it’s not going to work. You can’t stand this. You’re dying to say something, anything. So do it. ”

 

Josh remained silent.

 

“Fine.”

 

More silence. Both boys felt their patience wearing thin. 

 

“You’d never treat Tyler like this. I’m just an isolated portion of his personality. I’m still him. You know that as well as I do, don’t you Joshua?”

 

Josh held in an agitated sigh as he finally began eating. A cold burrito was difficult to enjoy, the stiff tortilla packed with hardened potatoes and rubbery cheese. He didn’t have the energy to be upset about his food at this point. All of his disdain was being directed elsewhere.

Still, nothing was said by Josh. Being continuously ignored like this was not something Blurry liked. What really got to him was that he wasn’t even being completely ignored. Josh acknowledged Blurry was physically there by looking and glaring him but he refused to speak. It was worse than being fully ignored. It was worse that Josh was getting better at it too.

In all honesty, he didn’t have a particular goal to piss Josh off. Not originally. But it seemed that plans changed. If Josh didn’t want to cooperate, that was fine. Blurry would make him. 

He stood up quickly, knocking his chair back in the process. The loud thud of the chair hitting the tile hadn’t affected Josh as he continued to ignore the temper tantrum unfolded in front of him and took another bite of his food. 

Ready to put on a show of his own to get Josh’s undivided attention, Blurry’s glare switched to a grin. He slowly approached Josh as he trailed his fingertips across the table and across the back of Josh’s chair until he got to Josh’s shoulder. His hand gently rested there as he leaned in and spoke lowly,

 

“I am Tyler. I know you know that and I know you despise it. You hate it with every fiber of your being but it’s only the truth. You’ll have to accept it sooner or later.”

 

Josh felt a wave of anger run through his body but refused to let himself snap. He didn’t want to play any of Blurry’s games. He didn’t want to give the other what he so clearly wanted.  Instead, all he got was a deep sigh and a shake of Josh’s shoulder, ridding himself of Blurry’s touch.  

 

“Losing your patience already? What's the matter? I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. You’re tired of this so called ‘gift’ you have by now, aren’t you? Is being the ghost whisperer not fun anymore?”

 

Blurry smirked as he saw how hard it was getting for Josh to remain silent. 

“Or is it something else? Rather be in bed or rather be alone? No. You’ve lived alone for a long time before we got here. Is it you’d rather have Tyler here? So you can flirt and play house some more. You can flirt with me, Joshua. Go on. Afterall, I’m Tyler too.”

 

As Blurry kept talking, his playful tone began to dissipate. Josh placed his burrito down, having only taken a few bites out of it. Another surge of anger coursed through his body, this one stronger than the last. The more he held it in, the more it built up. Yet still, there was no sound from him.

 

“It’s been what? 3 or 4 days now and you’ve done nothing to help us. Have you forgotten why we’re here? Because it sure as hell isn’t for this. A whole few days of you flirting and leading him on. That’s stopping right now. You’re not going to keep wasting our time.”

 

"Stop."

 

Josh stood up abruptly before walking into his living room, praying to God that Blurry would just let him be. He wasn’t up for whatever Blurry was trying to do earlier and he certainly wasn’t up for whatever he was doing now. But he knew it didn’t matter. Again, he’d never considered himself a particularly lucky guy and he knew Blurry would follow him anyway. He took a few deep breaths as he prepared himself. 

It only took him a few seconds but of course Blurry had followed him. The tension in the air was suffocating. 

And for Blurry, he thought finally getting Josh to respond would feel satisfying. He thought he’d have fun showing Josh that he had more power over him by making him speak but this didn’t feel like winning. This wasn’t fun anymore.

Not turning to talk to him, Josh spoke again before Blurry could,    
“If you don’t like it, you are welcome to leave. Otherwise, you do not tell me how to act in my own damn house, understand? Need I remind you that you’re the one who asked me for help, not vice versa. I’m the one who knows how to help him so let me do my job. I suggest that you stop now before-”

 

“I suggest you start doing something before Tyler loses all control of me.”

 

If Blurry thought he wasn’t being taken seriously before, he was now. As soon as the words left his mouth, Josh was centimeters away from his face, seething with anger. The usual condescending demeanor Blurry had was gone and it was clear this wasn’t a game anymore.

 

“If you don’t help him now, there will be a time when I come back and I stay.”

 

“Is that threat supposed to scare me?”

 

“Not a threat, it’s a fact and yes, it should because it petrifies Tyler. If you care about him-”

 

“I don’t. It’s just a job.” The defensive words left his mouth before he could stop them.

 

Blurry had been right, it had only been a few days. Tyler shared a bit of his life with Josh and Josh did the same with him but to start feeling anything for someone that quickly? What was he thinking? They were here because they needed his help. That was all. For Josh, this had to be another job. That was all it could be.

 

“Whether you actually believe that or not, I don’t care. You’re going to help him either way.”

 

“What makes you think I’ll do that? I don’t owe either of you anything.”

 

“If it’s just another job to you, you’ll want to do it right. And if you care about him, you’ll want him to be safe. So either way, you are going to do something before I do.”

 

If there was anything that bothered Josh, it was being told what to do. Especially by something like Blurry. A demon, that wasn’t welcome in Tyler’s body nor was he welcome in Josh’s home, had no right to be telling Josh what to do in the first place. He definitely had no right telling him how to do his job.  

The two had been staring each other down for what felt like ages. Neither made even the slightest movement.  The events that had unfolded throughout that entire night kept replaying in Josh’s mind. The blatant disrespect from Blurry, being treated as if he was a child, being told what to do in his own home. Every detail kept adding up until Josh acted on pure anger and impulse when he barely muttered,

“Get out.”

 

Josh had spoken so quietly, Blurry was sure he’d misheard him. His stance lost a bit of its confidence but his voice gained a defensive tone, “What?”

 

Josh pointed at the door as if the issue was Blurry not knowing where it was,“Get out of my apartment.”    
  


“But I....No.”

 

“It wasn’t a question. _Leave._ ”

 

Having no more fight left in him, he glared at Josh as he walked towards the cabinets by the door. He opened them and pulled out one of the few coats Tyler had. He moved slower than usual, waiting for Josh to change his mind. Some part of him couldn’t believe what was happening.

What about Tyler? The body Blurry inhabited was still human and he wasn’t sure if it could withstand cold city nights. And in some parts of the city, people were dangerous. If someone attacked him, Blurry could defend himself but he didn’t want it to come to that. He didn’t want any harm to come to Tyler that night. None of this was new and sure they’d been basically homeless prior to meeting Josh but even then, they had more than they did now. All of Tyler’s things were in Josh’s house. To go back to sleeping on sidewalks so suddenly and on such bad terms, Blurry was actually worried.  He tugged his coat on, opened the door but paused in the doorway. He turned his head to look over his shoulder, ready to plead his case. Ready to ask Josh, for the sake of Tyler, to let them stay there for at least one more day and they’d leave in the morning if Josh still wanted them to. But his pride made him bite his tongue. He didn’t need Josh. He could handle this just like he had before. This was only one night. He slammed the door behind him and that was it. He was gone.

Josh watched as the other left and as soon as the door slammed, he came undone. He had just kicked out the only real human contact he had in months, not including work or college. The first real, genuine, and friendly human contact he had, he just kicked out. But he hadn’t done it for no reason. He didn’t anger easily but Blurry knew what to say to get him there. Josh considered the same dangers that Blurry worried about. The cold, the danger, the fact that kicking Blurry out meant he kicked Tyler out too. He was debating running after Blurry and telling him he could sleep in the hallway or something, that he just didn’t have to go. But just like Blurry, Josh had too much pride. He knew they’d been in worse places prior due to the few stories Tyler told. They could survive a night without blankets again. Blurry wasn’t a child, although he acted like one. He was an adult and not to mention, a demon. He could take care of himself.

As Josh put away his food and cleaned up his kitchen, his anger had subsided. He was still irritated but the reality was setting in. He knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep that night but if he stayed awake, this would eat away at him endlessly. He’d imagine the worst scenarios possible. Knowing this, he quickly rushed to his bathroom and flung open his medicine cabinet. It took a little bit of digging but he found the bottle of sleeping pills he had. His insomnia was beyond terrible sometimes and he rarely used his pills, opting to stay awake all night instead but tonight it wasn’t optional. He grabbed the bottle and returned to the kitchen. He poured a single pill in his palm and grabbed a glass of water, swallowing it as quickly as he could. He was grateful they were fast acting because, in no time, Josh had fallen asleep on his couch. 

He thought he could escape his anger and worries by sleeping but he should have known better. He wasn’t known for being a peaceful sleeper. All night, various scenes of Tyler getting hurt in a variety of ways played through his unconscious mind. In each vision, he could feel Blurry’s presence and feel the resentment he felt towards Josh. Blurry made it clear it was all Josh’s fault in every nightmare he had about Tyler and he wouldn’t argue. If he woke up and found one of his nightmares to be true, it would be his fault. If he woke up and found that Blurry had gone away and Tyler spent the night in streets, alone and scared, it was his fault too.

The fact that any of this was a risk, that any of this was happening, was his fault. 

  
Awake or asleep, that guilt was a feeling he couldn’t escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again thank you so much for reading! I am so sorry it took this long. I won't bore y'all with excuses but just know that my winter break will be ending in just a few days so chapters will continue to be very slow. I'm extremely busy with school stuff even now but I am not forgetting these fics. I promise I will try to upload as quickly as I can. I hope some parts made you guys laugh and I hope this left you satisfied.  
> If you guys could leave some kudos, that'd be rad. And comments are so cherished so leave one of those too if you wanna. Otherwise, Happy (early) New Year! May 2017 bring us better fortune than this past year, huh?   
> Stay safe everyone and stay stellar!!

**Author's Note:**

> Excuse any mistakes, I didn't have the energy to edit this, so it's a raw rough chapter. I hope it wasn't terrible, and I hope I have a second chapter coming soon. Stay stellar.


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